Raised Among the Clouds
by Lady White Lotus
Summary: Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.
1. Chapter 1

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

(Eventual) Pairings: Sasusaku, Naruhina

* * *

Chapter 1

Her mission to Iwa had gone worse than she had expected.

The Tsuchikage had requested someone from Konoha to come heal his back, and in the name of peace and to help heal the rocky relations between the two villages, Tsunade had sent her apprentice, Sakura.

The little old man had really gotten on her nerves, constantly complaining about his back, and coercing her to stay longer than what was agreed on to heal some of Iwa's shinobi that their own medics couldn't.

She probably should have declined when Onoki asked her to heal them. After all, her mission was just to heal the Tsuchikage himself. But that would have gone against all her beliefs as a medic. And once she got started, the old Tsuchikage kept bringing her more patients. She ended up healing half of their hospital in her stay there, all while having to listen to Onoki complain about the back she had already healed three times.

So, as Sakura headed back to Konoha, she was tired and irritable. And to top off her already bad mood, she had just picked up two chakra signatures tailing her almost as soon as she crossed the border between grass and earth country.

The jounin debated who they could be. It was a possibility that they were stone nin. Many of them had not been happy when Iwa had made peace with Konoha, still carrying old grudges from the third shinobi war. Attacking her would provoke the Hokage and shake the fragile peace between the two villages, something that many stone nin would be perfectly content with.

But then again, Sakura doubted that any stone shinobi would have waited this long, and it was unlikely that they would have been able to tail her without her noticing until now. No, it was more likely that they were either grass nin, investigating her chakra signature, or missing nin, looking for a fight.

She almost kind of hoped that they were missing nin. She needed something to take her growing frustration out on. And judging by the chakra signatures, they would probably be able to put up a decent fight, which was fine with her. She didn't want it to be too easy.

She slowed down, not enough to let the two tailing her know that she was onto them, but enough to let them catch up a bit faster. As they neared her, she sensed what they had been able to conceal from a distance. Both of their chakra signatures were enormous. They were at least A rank nin, if not possibly S rank, and were undoubtedly jounin level if they were from a village.

Sakura started second guessing the wisdom of her plan, but they were catching up fast, and there was no going back now. _Who knows,_ she thought. _Maybe they are friendly._

Sakura sped up, heading for fire country. Confrontation was inevitable, so she might as well have the home turf advantage.

As she neared the border, she stopped. The medic felt the two signatures disappear, no doubt moving to different positions before striking. Sakura pulled out a kunai and waited for them to make the first move.

She turned in slow circles and looked through the trees around her, watching and waiting.

Finally, after what seemed like hours, a figure stepped out of the darkness of the trees. As it entered the light, Sakura saw a pattern of red clouds on black: Akatsuki.

Her heart started racing at the sight of the group that was after her best friend and teammate, Naruto. She spun around as a voice coming from behind her stated rather than asked, "Haruno Sakura."

"Akatsuki," she replied, struggling to keep her voice level.

The first figure that approached reached up to remove his straw hat, revealing long, dark gray hair and a pair of deadly red eyes. She immediately recognized him from the bingo book.

"Uchiha Itachi," she breathed out. "And that must make you Uchiha Sasuke," she addressed the other figure who was just taking off his hat.

The Uchiha brothers always worked and traveled together, seeing as they were partners in Akatsuki. And they were infamous for being powerful, deadly, ruthless, and, as Sakura had to grudgingly agree with, gorgeous.

Uchiha Itachi's name was feared through all of Konoha as being the man who singlehandedly destroyed Konoha's most powerful clan, though some rumors said that Sasuke had helped with the massacre, even at the fragile age of seven.

Both men were S rank criminals and well known members of Akatsuki. The bingo book listed them as "flee on sight." _I am so utterly screwed,_ Sakura inwardly groaned. Sure, she was a jounin and the apprentice of the Hokage, but these two were legends. And their sharingan made her genjutsu useless. _My only chance right now is to try to talk my way out of this. They haven't attacked yet, so maybe that's a good sign._

"Haruno Sakura," the younger one, Sasuke, began, "You are coming with us."

In shock and mild annoyance at his command, she hesitated to answer. "…Why?" she asked, wondering if she should cooperate or fight back, both seeming to be pretty terrible options.

"You are going to heal my brother."

Sakura recalled a rumor that Itachi's mangekyo sharingan was causing him to gradually become blind. _So that's what they want me for,_ she concluded. "Why should I help you? Akatsuki is going after Naruto, my teammate. Helping you could very well be signing his death warrant. Plus, I'm not in the business of healing criminals," Sakura glared at both of them.

"I wasn't offering you a choice," Sasuke glared back.

"It would be in your best interest to cooperate, Haruno-san," Itachi added, speaking for the first time, his face impassive.

"How do you even know I can heal you? Whatever is wrong with you is obviously something that can't be healed easily, otherwise you would have had another medic heal it by now. And why target me specifically?" she questioned. "There are better medics than me."

"You shouldn't underestimate yourself, Haruno-san. You also should not lie to us. You know as well as we do that the Hokage is the only medic with skills superior to yours, and the only other one on par with you is Shizune, who heads the hospital in Konoha and rarely leaves. You were the most logical choice," Itachi told her.

"And as far as your skills go, you had better hope you are able to heal him," Sasuke threatened, slightly unsheathing the sword under his open cloak, "otherwise you become useless to us."

"Well then you should tell me what's wrong with him so I can tell you if I can heal it or not. I would hate to waste your time by having you kidnap me only to realize that he can't be healed."

Sasuke glanced at his brother warily, as if asking how to proceed. Apparently he wasn't too keen on revealing what was wrong with his brother, which surprised Sakura. She had thought the fact that Itachi was going blind was common knowledge.

Itachi was the one to reply to Sakura's request. "What we would ask of you to heal consists of two parts. Once these healings are completed and I am fully recovered, you would be free to go. No harm would come to you if you cooperate."

"Yeah? Tell that to your brother," she muttered.

Sasuke's glare increased and he clutched his sword a bit tighter, but Itachi continued as if he hadn't heard her. "My two ailments should be reparable by someone of your caliber. I can explain them in full once you come with us, and then you could examine them yourself. I believe that would be more efficient than telling you now."

"So let's say for just one second that I am actually considering healing you. What would I get in return?" she challenged.

"Tch, he already said we wouldn't kill you," Sasuke growled, quickly losing the little patience he had.

"That hardly counts," Sakura glared. "I'm going to need a bit more of an incentive to help a member of the group who is hunting Naruto. What am I going to gain with all this? And even if you do offer me something I want, I'm still not convinced that I can necessarily heal you. There are just some things that are irrepara—"

She was cut off by Sasuke's voice, "Nii-san. There are several chakra signatures headed this way. Anbu, most likely."

Sakura smirked, feeling equal parts lucky and relieved that there had been a group of Anbu close enough to respond to the distress call she had set off.

There were several of these special jutsu hidden around fire country, and she had headed to the nearest one, setting the preset alarm off with her chakra, signaling all leaf shinobi in the immediate vicinity for help.

She was surprised there had been a team close enough to respond in time. Granted, she had to stall a little. It had been hard for her to pretend that she was actually interested in healing Uchiha Itachi, but it was worth it. The Anbu were the elite of Konoha. Perhaps if there were enough of them, they could stop the Uchiha brothers.

Her smile at her small victory was soon wiped off her face by the glare she received from Uchiha Sasuke. The guy looked like he was about ready to put his brother's health aside and just kill her where she stood.

 _Well,_ she thought, _the Anbu will be here soon, so we might as well get things started._

Feeling suddenly cocky and probably just the tiniest bit suicidal from the adrenaline and knowledge that her plan had worked, Sakura looked up at Sasuke, an S rank criminal who already seemed to hate her, and with a small smirk, gave him a wink and proceeded to punch the ground.

Earth flew up all around her and the two Akatsuki members jumped up and out of the way of the debris, eyes slightly wide from shock. As they landed, the Anbu team arrived, landing on the outskirts of the crater and debris Sakura had created.

The captain approached her, "Haruno-san. We received your signal. What is the situation?"

"The Akatsuki members, Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke, approached me on my way back to Konoha. I signaled for help. They came at me with the intention of forcing me to heal Uchiha Itachi. I stalled until you arrived. I think that if we play our cards right, the—" she quickly counted the group"—nine of us should be able to defeat them."

"Haruno-san. Head back to Konoha. We will take care of this."

"B-but you are going to need every person you've got to take on these guys," she sputtered, offended. "And what if one of you gets hurt? Who's going to heal you?"

"Haruno-san. Return to Konoha. That is an order. You are too valuable for Konoha to lose, and if we don't succeed in defeating them, having Itachi's eyes healed will only put another weapon in the hands of the enemy."

"But I can hel—"

"Go!"

Sakura looked between the captain and the other members of the Anbu in disbelief. She did not work as hard as she did to be a shinobi who ran away. She had done it so she that never again would another one of her comrades die in her arms. She did it so she could protect her precious people.

These Anbu weren't necessarily her precious people, but they were her comrades from Konoha. And she could help.

But orders were orders, and the captain was right. Having a fully functioning Uchiha Itachi would be a bad thing for Konoha, and an even worse thing for her last surviving teammate, Naruto.

Sakura grudgingly turned towards Konoha, but before she could even take a step in that direction, there was a flash of red and black, and suddenly her path was blocked by Uchiha Sasuke.

"As if we would just let you leave," he smirked, obviously not at all deterred by the Anbu team that had just arrived.

One of the Anbu jumped between him and Sakura. "You have other things to worry about at the moment. Your fight is with myself and my team. Now, Sakura. Go!" he shouted.

Sakura glanced back at the Anbu, recognizing Neji's long hair. After a few seconds of internal conflict, she turned to leave.

Taking off, she didn't get even ten feet into the forest before she heard the sounds of the fight beginning. Sakura struggled not to go back and help. The growing ache in her chest about leaving was only multiplied as she thought of Neji and the danger he faced.

But Neji was a strong shinobi, and anyone who made Anbu was good enough to be counted as one of the elite. She was sure they would be fine. Her job now was to get reinforcements from Konoha.

And with that thought, she increased her speed and headed for home


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

Pairings: Sasusaku, Naruhina, Nejiten

* * *

Chapter 2

Sakura hadn't had this much trouble healing a patient since a jounin had come in with severe, third degree burns, a missing leg, and a gaping hole in his abdomen that didn't seem to want to stop bleeding. Despite that, she had still had more success with that case than she was having right now.

The damage caused by the mangekyo sharingan was certainly hard to deal with. Tsunade was the only one who had ever been able to wake a victim of this genjutsu, Tsukuyomi, before, but Sakura was determined to do it.

With Akatsuki after Naruto, and now apparently herself too, she needed to learn how to deal with the trauma caused by the genjutsu. That's why, when the Anbu team returned with one of their members hit by the jutsu, Tsunade had agreed to let Sakura have a go at it.

None of the Anbu members had been killed or seriously injured, and as it turned out, the reinforcements had been entirely unnecessary. The Uchiha brothers had left after Itachi used his mangekyo, and the Anbu team had reported that the missing nin's eye had actually started bleeding.

The only serious damage to either party seemed to be caused solely by those eyes, and as Sakura struggled to heal the Anbu, she shuddered to think of what the elder Uchiha could do if he was fully healthy.

Looking at the man's latest victim, Sakura felt a guilty relief that the Anbu in the hospital bed wasn't Neji.

Not that she was particularly close to Neji, because for as much as she admired him, he was pretty attached to Tenten. But her relief was felt more for the Hyuuga clan, who had already felt so much loss in the past few years.

Not to mention the fact that Hyuuga Naoki had practically idolized his older cousin. She could only imagine how proud he would have been to see Neji become an Anbu.

Sakura winced at her current train of thought about her fallen teammate. She shook off the lingering sadness that always accompanied her memories of Naoki and continued attempting to heal the Anbu.

He was a man Sakura didn't recognize, which made sense. The shinobi before her was an older man with graying hair and a scar on his neck. He had probably been in Anbu for quite some time, and she had never really interacted much with the elite teams of Konoha, besides regular healings in the hospital.

Sakura kept examining the man, looking for abnormalities and healing minor damage, but no matter what she did, he would not wake up.

A voice interrupted her concentration. "Sakura," Tsunade addressed her apprentice. "How is the healing going?"

Sakura had been so lost in her examination and that she hadn't even noticed her teacher enter the room. This healing really was giving her a lot of trouble. "I can't seem to pinpoint the damage," Sakura began, not bothering to hide the frustration in her voice.

"The damage is more to his spirit than anything," Tsunade told her. "His mind has just gone through severe psychological trauma. It wants to stay unconscious. Your job is to wake him up."

Sakura sighed at the all too vague advice and began examining the man again. She could heal almost any injury brought to her, but she had never healed mental and psychological damage before, and she had no idea how to go about waking him up. If she was being honest with herself, she would have said such a thing would be impossible if Tsunade had not been able to heal Kakashi-sensei after his battle with Uchiha Itachi all those years ago.

After about another fifteen minutes of failed attempts to heal the man, Tsunade stepped pass Sakura and rested her own hand of healing chakra on the Anbu.

The man immediately awoke, and Sakura looked at her master with a combination of awe and annoyance. Everyone knew the Hokage was the best there was, but her abilities still amazed Sakura. However, despite the fact that she knew that she had taken too long trying to heal the man, and that he needed to be woken up, she had still wanted, no, _needed_ to learn how to wake someone from that jutsu.

Sakura sighed and wiped the sweat from her brow in defeat, leaning against the wall. If she was lucky, maybe she would never have to heal someone hit by the mangekyo, but she doubted that.

Maybe they would be fortunate enough for Itachi to go completely blind soon. She smirked at the sudden mental picture of him with little black glasses and a cane, and almost started laughing when she pictured Sasuke struggling to help him around. It would serve the jerk right.

As she walked home from the hospital, her reverie was interrupted by the sound of a caw above her. She looked up to see a crow perched on top of a building.

Ignoring the bird that seemed oddly out of place, she decided to take a detour towards Ichiraku's. It had been a while since she had seen her best friend, and Tsunade had said that he had just gotten back from a mission, which meant he was going to be eating ramen.

She was looking forward to talking with Naruto, which she rarely got the opportunity to do anymore. Each time she wanted to, either one of them was out on a mission, or he was with Hinata.

Naruto had gotten close with the Hyuuga girl after her cousin, Naoki's, death, both finding comfort in each other while mourning the death of the boy they had both been close to.

Once Naruto recognized Hinata's adoration for him and the two started dating, they were almost always together. Sakura thought they were adorable together, and she loved them both dearly, but she still missed spending time with just Naruto.

As she neared Ichiraku's, sure enough, she saw Naruto sitting there, looking to be on about his fifth bowl.

"Naruto!" she called out.

"Sakura-chan, you're back from your mission! What took you so long? Tsunade-bachan said you were supposed to be back two weeks ago," Naruto asked, hugging his teammate.

"The old Tsuchikage had me heal a bunch of their hospital's patients, so I just got back yesterday. And I was working in the hospital today." Sakura debated telling Naruto about the Uchiha incident, but she figured there was no use in worrying him, not to mention the fact that there was a chance he would go after them just for attacking her.

"Hehe, well I'm glad you're back. I was just finishing eating," Naruto grinned, rubbing the back of his head, "but if you want to join me, I could always have a few more bowls."

Sakura chuckled, "Sure, I'll join you for some ramen. Then we can catch up."

As they ate, Naruto told her about his mission to Suna which Tsunade had assigned especially to him.

It was mainly diplomatic, and not really Naruto's cup of tea, but the Sannin told him that if he wanted to be Hokage so badly, he needed to see how the job worked.

Sakura laughed happily at Naruto's antics and expressions as he told his story. She really had missed her teammate. If only Kakashi-sensei wasn't out on a mission. Then they'd all be there together.

They both finished their ramen and made plans to train the next day when Kakashi got back from his mission.

As Sakura walked home, she was content. Her happy reunion and talk with Naruto put almost all thoughts of Akatsuki and the Uchihas out of her mind. She was in such a good mood that she almost didn't notice the single black crow perched outside her home.

* * *

During the following week, Sakura kept seeing crows. Well, she only ever saw one at a time, but she doubted it was the same crow. That would mean the thing was stalking her, an idea which she wasn't totally comfortable with.

There always seemed to be one around. At the hospital, outside her apartment, during training, and even at Ichiraku's when she went to eat with Naruto. The last straw came when she saw the thing outside the hot springs she had been bathing in.

 _That's it_ , she thought. _It's time to get these stupid things to leave me alone! Shannaro!_

She marched home, pissed off, knowing one of the stupid birds would be perched outside her apartment.

When she arrived, she saw it on her windowsill. Going into the building, she raced up to the second floor, and opened her window.

The bird hopped in, and just as Sakura was about to strangle the creature, she froze.

As she looked at the bird, it tilted its head, and its eye bled into red. And as she found herself facing the sharingan, the world went black.

* * *

She woke to sounds of screaming and fighting.

As she opened her eyes, all there was around her was chaos. Shinobi lay dead, and blood soaked the streets of Konoha.

 _This cannot be happening. This is impossible._

She saw Neji and Tenten, both with throats slashed. Kiba and Shino lay lifeless a few yards away, riddled with Kunai. Shizune was lying near them, impaled by a spear, and next to her, Tsunade was slumped over against a wall, not breathing.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Shikamaru being run through by a sword, and as she turned to face him, she saw both him and Choji bleeding out on the ground. Sakura ran towards them, but quickly froze.

Amidst the chaos, she heard Ino yelling her name. But as she looked, the voice kept moving, and Sakura couldn't find her friend. As she spun around, looking for Ino in desperation, the screams grew louder, resounding in her head, and then she saw Kakashi.

Her sensei, her wonderful, lazy sensei, was just lying there, mask in shreds. His one eye was open, glazed over, and lifeless.

Sakura's throat tightened and her eyes burned with tears, but as she rushed over to him, his body vanished.

Sakura heard screaming and whirled around to see a tear stained Hinata clutching a lifeless body dressed in orange.

 _Naruto,_ she recognized her teammate. "Naruto!" Sakura screamed, tears rushing down her face.

"No! No, no, no, no, no, no..." she sobbed. _No, no, no. This can't be real. It can't. I can't lose him to. Not after Naoki. This can't be real. This has to be some kind of trick. A-a genjutsu, it has to be a genjutsu. It has to be._

"Kai, kai, kai, kai, kai, kai," she screamed in desperation, trying to break the genjutsu. "Kai!"

Her one last desperate attempt woke her out of the illusion, and she sat up on the floor of her apartment, panting and sweating, tears still running down her face. _It was just an illusion. Just an illusion._

She lay back down on the cool wooden floor, trying to breathe through her sobs of relief and terror.

Even as the crow approached her, she couldn't stop crying. The bird hopped up to her, dropped something from its beak, and flew away.

Sakura choked back another sob as she touched the paper, and an image of a terraced mountain surrounded by forest flickered into her vision. Shaking the image out of her head, she picked up and unrolled the little scroll.

Meet us at the Uchiha Hideout at the border of fire country.

Tell no one.

And remember, genjutsus can easily become reality.

Sakura leaned her head against the wall and caught her breath. The genjutsu was obviously a thinly concealed threat from those two Uchiha bastards.

She growled. As much as their genjutsu had shaken her up, she was not going to let them get their way, and she was certainly not going to help them.

They had no motivation to keep any promises they might make about her safety or the safety of her friends. And besides, they were after Naruto. Capturing and killing him wasn't exactly negotiable. Everyone knew Akatsuki was after all nine tailed-beasts.

That was the problem though. No matter what she did, Naruto was never going to be safe. He would always be their target. And unless she found a way to kill the two Uchiha brothers, they would always pose a threat to her teammate. As she had seen, even a partially blind Uchiha Itachi was still insanely strong.

But stay or go, it wouldn't change anything. If only she could kill him instead of heal him. _Wouldn't that be nice?_ She thought. _  
_

 _Wait, that's it!_ Sakura perked up. _I'll just kill him. If he's planning on letting me get close enough to heal him, I will be close enough to kill him. All I'll have to do is figure out how to get out of there without being mauled by his brother._

Sakura grinned, as her plan slowly fell into place in her mind.

It would be perfect. All she had to do was go in as if she was planning on healing Itachi. After a few "healings" and once he was used to her being around, she would use her medical jutsu to kill him. All it would take is a bit of chakra in the right place. He would never even see it coming.

She could get rid of one of Naruto's biggest threats, maybe two if Sasuke let his guard down, and she would be protecting all of her other friends as well.

Not to mention the fact that it would be the perfect revenge for them basically stalking her and putting her under that genjutsu.

 _This is the perfect solution_ , she smirked.

The real battle would be convincing Tsunade to go along with it.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 3

Apparently, Tsunade couldn't see the genius of the plan like Sakura could.

The medic had gone into the Hokage's office asking to talk about the Uchiha incident. Her master had agreed, since the only information she had gotten was a brief report from Sakura before they sent out reinforcements.

The meeting had started out fine. Sakura explained in detail what had happened in the forest with the Uchihas. Then, she told Tsunade about the crow and the genjutsu.

The news that there had been an attack on her apprentice in Konoha had not gone over well with the Sannin. Nor had Sakura's plan, which led to the current situation.

"But it _will_ work. It's the perfect plan," Sakura told the Hokage for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Absolutely not," Tsunade slammed the table. "I am not sending you in all alone to the Uchihas. It's too dangerous."

"You trained me yourself. You _know_ that I can do this. Why don't you believe in me?"

"It's not that I don't believe in you, because I do. You're my apprentice, and you are a capable medic and shinobi. But this is a suicide mission. I wouldn't send anyone in, much less someone I care so much about."

"But—"

"Absolutely not. Look. Everyone knows how incredibly protective Itachi and Sasuke are of each other."

Sakura could agree with that. She remembered one incident when a leaf jounin was ripped limb from limb by Uchiha Sasuke about a year ago for cutting Itachi's arm. The wound hadn't even been that deep, but the man hadn't been able to revel in the fact that he had actually landed a hit on the famous missing nin for long.

According to the rest of his team, retribution from the younger Uchiha had been swift and brutal. Sakura shuddered at her memories of the pieces his teammates had brought back to Konoha.

"There's no way you would get out alive if you did manage to kill Itachi," Tsunade stared down the younger medic. "And even if you did, Sasuke would hunt you down for the rest of his life. That's just how the Uchiha are. They're too dangerous."

"Exactly!" Sakura exclaimed. "They are too dangerous, and right now, they're hunting Naruto. They will _never_ stop. Naruto will be in danger from Akatsuki his whole life, and who knows how long _that_ will be if they manage to catch him. If I do this, it will take out one, maybe two, of the most powerful Akatsuki members, and I can get intel on the rest of them in the meantime. This could save Naruto, and possibly all of Konoha. Because if Akatsuki is dangerous now, what will they be like once they have all of the tailed beasts?"

"Sakura," Tsunade began, but her apprentice just continued on.

"Please, Tsunade-shishou. This is something I have to do. And I'm going to do it, whether I have your support or not. I will not let another one of my comrades die when I have the power to do something about it."

Tsunade looked at her apprentice thoughtfully. So this was what this was about. The Hokage knew the girl blamed herself for not being able to do anything about Naoki and Lee's deaths. Those were what had pushed her to become stronger to be able to protect others.

Naoki had died on one of Team Seven's first missions, a C-rank escort mission to wave country that should have been an A-rank.

None of the young genin had stood a chance against the boy with the ice kekkei genkai, and the Hyuuga boy had been killed. Sakura, however, thought it had been her fault for not being strong enough to help. According to Kakashi, it was after that mission that Sakura had asked Kurenai to start training her in genjutsu.

Lee's death had shaken her, too. Though she had not been as close to the boy, he had died in her arms after facing Gaara in the chunin exam finals, when the sand jinchuriki had transformed into the Shukaku to mark the beginning of the invasion on Konoha.

Sakura again blamed herself, believing she should have been able to do something. That had marked the beginning of her training as a medic and was what had made Sakura request that Tsunade teach her.

Tsunade knew her hands were tied. If Sakura was stubborn about anything, it was protecting her loved ones. All the Hokage could do now was to make sure the girl didn't go into this dangerous situation without support.

"Fine, but I expect you to communicate with us as much as you safely can. And you need to make sure that you kill Uchiha Itachi before his eyes are completely healed. He's already dangerous enough as it is," Tsunade finally conceded. "And you will only take your shot when Uchiha Sasuke is either far away or otherwise occupied. Understood?"

"Yes. Thank you, thank you, thank you," Sakura beamed. "I won't let you down."

"Well, I might as well turn this into an official mission," the Hokage sighed. "Pack your things and say your goodbyes. Tell everyone that you are going on a long term solo mission. I'll call here the few people who I want to inform about the true nature of your mission."

Sakura smiled and hurried back to her home, eager to start her plan.

* * *

Hours later, Kakashi, Shikamaru, Neji, and Tenten were gathered in Tsunade's office. Kakashi of course was the last one to arrive, though he had been told to come immediately hours earlier. It was a good thing Tsunade had gotten used to compensating for his tardiness.

Sakura had walked in just as the Hokage had finished explaining Sakura's mission to them, and the atmosphere was tense. She saw that their faces had expressions ranging from surprise to worry, especially on Kakashi. Sakura's former sensei looked like he wanted nothing more than to object to the plan, but he said nothing.

Tenten looked concerned for her friend, and Neji's face seemed even more serious than usual. He was no doubt remembering his recent encounter with the two Akatsuki members.

Even Shikamaru's normal slouch was slightly more tense with the severity of the situation and the risks of the mission. Sakura was sure he was probably questioning the sanity of everyone in the room for going along with the whole thing.

"This is the team I have set up to extract you in case anything goes wrong," the Hokage told Sakura as her student walked up to her desk.

Sakura nodded. Tsunade's choices for the team made sense. Neji would be able to assess the situation from afar with the byakugan, giving Shikamaru time to come up with a tactic that would be the most effective. Neji and Tenten had almost flawless teamwork and could cover almost all fighting ranges. Kakashi's sharingan would be key in fighting the Uchihas, as it quite possibly made him the only one who could look Itachi in the eye without being affected by Tsukuyomi.

"I am giving them a jutsu that will summon them to your signal. If you activate it, they will be alerted go to your location. But keep in mind that it's not a teleportation jutsu, and that they won't be able to come immediately," she continued. "So use it at the first sign that you believe the Uchihas are onto your plan, and that you can't get out on your own."

"Understood," Sakura replied as blonde medic gave her a little scroll with a seal and showed her the hand signs to activate it.

"Use Katsuyu to communicate with us. I will summon her twice each day for any new information you might have, and for information on your location. Only summon her when you can do so in absolute safety, though. Other than that, this is your plan, and you know what to do."

Then the Hokage addressed the rest of the room. "As far as the four of you go, I'm not sending you on any important or far away missions until Sakura is back safely. I need you all to be prepared to help her on a moment's notice should things go astray."

The four jounin nodded their assent as she handed them each a scroll with a similar seal.

"Also, this mission is top-secret. Akatsuki has spies in Konoha, and the Uchihas were very clear that Sakura was not to tell anyone of their offer. If this gets out, it could put her in danger."

"But what about Naruto?" Sakura demanded, realizing the blonde wasn't in the room. "He should know."

"Naruto would never let you go, at least not without him," Tsunade reasoned. "And if he did, he would demand to be part of the extraction team, which we can't have, since Akatsuki is after him. It's best if he doesn't know."

Sakura felt a touch of guilt weigh down on her chest as she nodded her assent, but her master was right. Besides, she fully planned on returning from this mission, so Naruto would never even need to know.

"Sakura," Tsunade placed her hand on her apprentice's shoulder and smiled proudly, "I believe in you. Stay safe, and come back soon."

* * *

Sakura walked towards the village entrance.

She had just said goodbye to Naruto. He was the only one she hadn't talked to before her meeting with Tsunade and the extraction team, since she had been sure Naruto was going to be one of the ones informed about the true nature of her mission.

Like her goodbyes to Ino and her parents, it had been uneventful. Anything different than her normal farewell before a mission would have been suspicious, and she didn't want them to worry.

She still felt guilt that she couldn't tell her best friend about what she was about to do, but it was for the best. She just didn't want to leave him out of such an important decision. The significance and danger of what she was about to do did not escape her. And though she was confident she could do it, something still felt wrong about not telling Naruto.

Reaching the gateway out of Konoha, a figure suddenly appeared in front of her, holding a little orange book.

"Kakashi-sensei, what are you doing here?"

"Sakura," Kakashi began hesitantly. "I'm not sure how I feel about this mission."

Sakura opened her mouth to reply but Kakashi interrupted her.

"It's not that I don't trust you, but Uchiha Itachi and Uchiha Sasuke are dangerous. I know nothing I can say will stop you, and I know you want to help Naruto, but just be careful," Kakashi told his student, his worry evident in his visible eye. "Those two are on a whole other level."

Sakura nodded.

"When I fought them about three years ago, they were out of my league, and I can only imagine that they've gotten better. Itachi is calmer, but more powerful. However, Sasuke has something of a temper and is more likely to attack. Their teamwork is impeccable. Never look in their eyes. They move fast, and both have been rogue ninja for years, so they're smart and can sense lies. Stick to the truth as much as possible. Watch your temper and don't attack them prematurely."

By this point, Kakashi was almost rambling, and Sakura already knew all this, having examined the files they had on both Uchihas.

"I know, sensei," Sakura smiled softly at him, knowing his protectiveness was partially a result of losing Naoki. "I know. And I will be careful. Thanks for worrying about me."

Kakashi smiled tentatively back, still obviously concerned. "Stay safe," he told her.

"I will"

With a small nod, he disappeared, leaving her to her mission.

Sakura took a deep breath, straightened her pack, and left without glancing back.

* * *

The Uchiha Hideout was intimidating, and not much of a hideout if you asked Sakura. Not that the powerful clan had ever really needed a place to hide. _Except for when their prodigy when nuts and killed them all_ , Sakura thought, morbidly.

The "hideout" was conspicuous: a mountain carved into tiers, looking more like a temple than anything, with towers on both sides.

The place was surrounded by forest and looked largely abandoned, which she supposed probably suited the Uchihas just fine. They seemed like the kind of people who liked their privacy.

As Sakura neared the mountain, she looked around for a door. The only entrance she could see was in the building on the top tier. _Smart,_ she admired. _They'd be able to see intruders coming from miles, and it would make it hard for anyone to sneak in. Which means they probably already know I'm here._

Sakura made her way to the top of the mountain. The building there seemed to be some sort of grand hall, marked with the Uchiha crest.

A set of large doors were in the front, and that was the only entrance Sakura could make out. _Well, I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying to sneak in or anything._

She could sense both of the Uchihas' chakra signatures inside the building, and she knew they were waiting for her to come in. Steeling herself and taking a deep breath, she stepped forward and pushed open the doors.

The first thing she saw in the hall was a large chair at the front, almost like a throne. Uchiha Itachi was sitting in it casually, seeming all too relaxed for the situation, as if he had just been waiting patiently for a guest to arrive.

Sakura noticed Sasuke's absence not a moment too early.

She dodged the blow the second she guessed it was coming. From the way he had come at her, she guessed his intent had been to knock her out by hitting a nerve in the back of her neck, rather than hurt her, which made sense. They needed her to heal Itachi, but they couldn't have her knowing how to get around this place by herself.

"Really?" she glared at Sasuke. "I come here to heal your brother, and you attack me?"

Sasuke returned her look and was just about to come at her again when Itachi spoke up.

"What changed your mind, Haruno-san?" he asked, tilting his head. "You seemed very adamant about not healing me when we met before."

"Your little gift was very persuasive," she muttered, not having to fake her anger. Sakura decided that it was best to follow Kakshi's advice and tell as much of the truth as possible, and she wasn't lying when she said that the genjutsu had affected her.

"I see," was all he deigned to reply.

After a several moments of heavy silence, Sakura spoke up. "We might as well get this over with. I'll examine your eyes so I can see where I am going to need to start with my healing."

Sakura certainly didn't want to start healing the man, but she needed it to seem like all she wanted to do was heal him and leave as soon as possible.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed with slight confusion at her statement, but relaxed when he saw his brother nod.

Sakura walked up to the older brother, but just as she was about to reach him, her path was blocked by Sasuke.

"How do I know that you're not just going to kill him instead of heal him?" he demanded. "I know that healing chakra can do as much damage as it can fix."

Sakura panicked in her head, shocked he had guessed her actual plan so early. Not that she had been planning on killing Itachi while the brothers were still so suspicious of her, but other than that, he had been spot on.

Trying to keep calm on the outside, the medic answered "Do I seem suicidal to you?" She looked at Sasuke incredulously. "Never mind. Don't answer that," she mumbled, thinking back to when she had winked at the Uchiha right before attacking him during their first encounter. Maybe she was suicidal after all.

"Regardless," Sakura continued, "I'm here to heal your brother. Feel free to stand right here and watch as closely as you want. I'm not going to attack him, but I do need to assess the damage," she told him, switching quickly into medic mode.

Sasuke looked to Itachi, who simply nodded at him. The younger brother took a step back, but that was all, still maintaining a close distance at which he could attack Sakura before she would be able to harm Itachi.

 _Hopefully he'll loosen up a bit. If he's like this every time I heal his brother, my plan will never work_ , she groaned in her head.

Stepping up to Itachi, she steeled herself. She knew that she was going to have to actually heal him a bit at first before her plan could be set into motion, because anything less than that would raise suspicion. But the idea of helping the mass murderer who was after her best friend did not sit well with her.

She looked at her hand while she cloaked it with green healing chakra, contemplating if what she was about to do was worth it.

Reminding herself that it was, she looked up into Itachi's sharingan, and then her world went black.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

Pairings (Both current and eventual): Sasusaku, Naruhina, Nejiten, Shikatema

* * *

Chapter 4

Sakura woke up, her head spinning. She was really getting tired of that stupid sharingan.

Sitting up on the bed she must have been laid down in by one of the brothers, the kunoichi surveyed the room. It was surprisingly light, considering it was lit by a single candle flickering on a nightstand. There was also a desk and chair in one corner, along with a small dresser. The room had no decorations and no windows, which made sense. She had not seen any other openings in the mountain when she had been going up, other than the building on top.

There were two doors, one leading out of the room, and the other probably led to a connecting bathroom or a closet. The walls had a few cracks from age. This hideout had probably been used as one of the Uchiha strongholds back before Konoha was even founded, when clans were still warring against each other.

The bed was huge, soft, and obviously new, which led Sakura to believe that Itachi and Sasuke had probably just started living here in recent years, furnishing the few rooms they would be using. She guessed the place probably hadn't been used since before Konoha had been founded, when the clan had moved to their new home in the village.

The Uchihas were a lot of things, but poor evidently wasn't one of them. Though the room was bare, it was still nice, and the sheets and blankets looked expensive. One was even embroidered with the Uchiha clan crest. _For having killed off their entire clan, they still have a lot of pride about being Uchihas_ , Sakura thought.

She took a quick self-inventory. Her weapons were all gone, naturally. The medical supplies in her pouch were still all there, and all of the clothes in her bag were in place. Even her scrolls, containing mostly medical supplies and, thankfully, the emergency scroll with the jutsu Tsunade had given her, were still there. The only abnormality seemed to be the black markings circling her wrists.

They looked to be a seal of some kind. As she tested them with her chakra, she guessed it was probably an A-rank sealing technique, maybe even S-rank, since she could break out of anything B-rank or lower, and she couldn't get these to budge.

Sakura figured they were probably meant to restrict her chakra in some way, making it harder for her to get away or hurt the Uchihas. Deciding to test out her theory, she tried to collect chakra to her arm, as she normally would before punching something.

As she had figured, only a fraction of the chakra she had been trying to mold actually cooperated. As she kept trying, the chakra kept coming. She could get a decent amount of chakra to go places, but nothing like the quick bursts she needed for most of her attacks.

Any jutsu these seals would let her do would take a while to mold chakra for, meaning the Uchihas would easily see any attack coming with the sharingan in time to counteract it. However, she could probably still heal with ease. _They really thought this through_ , Sakura mused. _This seal works exactly to their advantage. I can heal, but not fight._

It was too bad that she wasn't very good at fuinjutsu. Having the ability to break out of the seal at a moment's notice would have been nice, but she would just have to work around it. _Besides, if my plan goes like it's supposed to, raw force should be unnecessary._

She didn't really expect the seals to affect her mission in the least, unless one of them attacked her and she had to defend herself. She could just get Jiraiya to remove them when she got back to Konoha. They wouldn't, hopefully, be more than an annoyance.

Sighing, Sakura stood up and stretched, rolling her shoulders. Though she was aching to do _something_ , she knew she had to have patience. The more time she spent with the Uchihas meant the more they would let down their guard around her, and then she could strike.

All she had to do was bide her time and not attack prematurely. If she lost her temper, the whole plan could go down the drain.

The door opened, and Sasuke walked right in her room, followed by his brother. Sakura sighed. _This is going to be harder than I thought._

"I don't suppose you would bother to knock next time? For all you knew, I could have been changing, and then we would have a really awkward situation on our hands, wouldn't we?" she asked, trying to stay calm.

Sasuke just glared at her with what seemed to be quickly becoming his favorite expression for her. It was a look that said, _You're annoying, so I'm not even going to bother giving you an actual response._

Itachi, on the other hand, just calmly apologized and reassured her it would never happen again.

Sakura thanked him and then pointed to the seals on her wrists. "And what are these for?"

Sasuke looked at her as if the answer was obvious. Itachi was the one to answer her question. "Those are chakra seals. They will restrict how much chakra you can use and mold. You understand that we can't allow you to have free range over your chakra. It would be too much of a risk to us. You should still be able to heal with them, though."

Sakura nodded. So she had been right. "And you'll take them off of me once I'm done healing you?" she asked.

"Of course," Itachi answered. "And then you will be free to return to Konoha, as per our deal."

"Speaking of which, I will need to examine your eyes soon so I can see the damage and determine where to begin. As long as you would be so kind as to not knock me out this time, that is," Sakura smiled, not even trying to make it look genuine. The sharingan really was starting to annoy her.

Itachi ignored her last comment, "Yes, of course. We can use the old infirmary. Let us know if you need any supplies. Other than that, we can get started immediately."

With that Itachi turned and walked out of the room, and Sakura took that as her cue to follow. As she exited the room, she was followed closely by Sasuke, who still hadn't stopped glaring.

 _Geez, for a guy who's getting exactly what he wanted, he sure is crabby. I wonder what his problem is,_ Sakura ruminated. _Maybe that's just his default expression. What a shame. He'd be pretty good looking if he'd stop scowling._

Shaking _that_ train of thought out of her head, Sakura tried to memorize all of the turns they were taking. It would be easier for her if she could navigate on her own, without having to be guided by one of the brothers.

The Uchiha Hideout seemed to be a maze of identical hallways and doors. The place was huge, and probably used to hold the whole clan. Looking at her surroundings, Sakura wondered if this wasn't another security measure. Anyone without inside knowledge of how to navigate the place would quickly get lost.

After for walking for several minutes, they came to a room with several cots lined against the walls, along with a desk and cupboards with medical supplies in one corner.

"This is where you will be working, Haruno-san," Itachi gestured to the desk. "Feel free to use the space in any way you wish. We can obtain anything you may need, just ask."

"Alright, let's get started," Sakura gestured to the nearest cot. "Take a seat so I can examine you."

"Wait," Sasuke spoke up for the first time all day.

"If you think I'm going to hurt your brother, Sasuke, the offer still stands for you to watch as closely as you want."

Sasuke ignored her. "You're going to need to know about the nature of Itachi's condition before you begin."

Sakura rolled her eyes. "It's not exactly a secret that he's going blind from using the mangekyo sharingan," she replied.

"When we first came to you, I said there were two things I needed you to heal," Itachi explained.

"Well, what's the second thing?"

"I have an illness that is slowly killing me. No doctor has been able to diagnose it, and the only information they have given me is that it is terminal, and I will probably only live for another year at most," Itachi stated, rather stoically considering the news he was giving.

Sakura blinked back her surprise. Uchiha Itachi was dying? She didn't even need to kill him. He would bite it on his own in less than a year. All she had to do was pretend she couldn't heal whatever he had.

Sakura glanced at Sasuke, who was looking at the ground with a pained expression. Apparently even a mention of his brother's imminent death was enough to trouble him.

She pushed back the twinge of guilt she felt looking at the younger brother. These men were both enemies and wanted criminals. They were after Naruto. The Uchihas deserved death, not her sympathies. However, she still had to pretend like she planned on helping them. She couldn't give away her plan too soon.

"What are your symptoms?" she asked Itachi.

"Shortness of breath, coughing, sometimes coughing up blood, weight loss, fatigue, and chest pain," he stated.

"Hm, and how long have these symptoms been occurring?"

"About five years," Sasuke answered for his brother. "They started off mildly, but have been getting worse, especially lately,"

Sakura turned back to Itachi, and nodded towards one of the cots. "Well, let me take a look, and I'll see what I can do."

Itachi walked over to the nearest bed and lay down, his brother following him. Sasuke stood right next to Itachi, just bordering on hovering. Apparently he was still having trust issues.

Sakura began molding her healing chakra in her hands, the process taking far longer than usual due to the seals on her wrists.

Once she began examining the man in front of her, she nearly gasped in shock.

He had extensive internal damage. His lungs were a wreck, his heart was failing, and the rest of his body was simply overused, under-rested, and worn down. It was a miracle he was still alive, much less up, about, and living as an active shinobi.

She knew the year which the doctors had given him was a generous estimation. She imagined he probably had weeks left, which would not work with her plan. She had to find some way to take care of Sasuke before she killed Itachi, and there was no way he would trust her enough to leave her alone with Itachi in that amount of time.

If he died prematurely, she had no doubt that Sasuke would lose it and possibly kill her for not doing anything to save his brother. Which meant she had to heal him.

If she would heal Itachi's illness now, she could still kill him later, at the moment of her choosing. So, as much as it pained her to help these people in any way, she began fixing the damage.

She decided to start on his heart, which was the most vital. The healing took her longer than it should have, probably due to her chakra being restricted. Sakura decided to only heal enough of it to get Itachi out of immediate danger. There was no need to fully heal the man, and she still had other areas to work on.

The lungs came next. The damage there was deep and severe, and the immense scarring told her that his lungs had indeed been affected by this for years, undergoing continuous damage even as parts of them healed naturally.

She worked on his lungs for what seemed like hours, and once she was done with the most serious damage, she was exhausted.

The medic pulled up a chair that was sitting near the cot, and collapsed in it. Looking up at the brothers, she gave them her diagnosis. "Whatever this disease is, I've never seen it before. The damage was extensive. I managed to heal the worst of it, so you're in the clear for now. However, I was unable to pinpoint what is causing all of this, and until I do, the symptoms will only keep coming back, requiring regular healings."

Itachi simply nodded, stoic as ever. Sasuke, however, looked immensely relieved. His brother wasn't going to die. _Well, at least not of this disease_ , Sakura thought, pushing back another pang of guilt about what she was planning on doing. _They're the enemy_ , she reminded herself. _You have to start seeing them as such, not as regular patients._

Maybe it was the medical nature of her mission that was throwing her off. Unlike most medics she knew, Sakura saw her patients as actual people, not just as routine cases. Many medics dehumanized their patients in their minds so they wouldn't be haunted by the memory of every person they couldn't save.

Sakura, however, did the opposite. She focused on each person as a unique individual, and took the time to get to know the patients and their families. It gave her more motivation to work harder and do everything she could to save each person. And she believed she was a better medic because of it.

But her normal healing philosophy wouldn't work here. She wasn't on this mission to heal Itachi, she was here to kill him. And if she didn't get that idea through her head, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to go through with it.

Sakura had never killed someone in cold blood before. In the heat of battle, sure. What shinobi hadn't? She had done a few assassinations, too, but those were all done with poison, which was one of her specialties and a far more impersonal way of killing.

This was going to be different, and Sakura wasn't sure how she would handle it. But a mission was a mission, and she had to protect Naruto.

Turning her attention back to Sasuke and Itachi, she spoke again, "I used up too much chakra healing your heart and lungs, Itachi-san. So, we will have to wait until tomorrow for me to examine your eyes."

Itachi sat up, taking a deep breath, as if checking to see how much she had healed. "Of course," he looked at Sakura. "Thank you," he said. And then he smiled. It was just a small, polite smile, but it was genuine.

Sakura avoided his gaze and looked studiously at the ground. _I thought he was emotionless, and now he's going around smiling? Damn it, why do they have to make this so hard?!_

"I'm not doing this for you," she growled out, almost to remind herself more than them. "I'm doing this to protect my friends, who _you_ threatened. So don't you think for a minute that I'm doing this out of the kindness of my heart, because I'm not!"

And with that, she turned around and stalked out of the room.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 5

Sakura had been wandering the halls of the Uchiha Hideout for hours, and she was seriously beginning to rethink the wisdom of her previous choices.

She had thought she memorized what turns they had taken from her room to the infirmary perfectly, but apparently she had made a mistake somewhere, because now she was lost. Utterly and completely lost.

And even if she did pass her room, there was no way she would be able to tell it was hers just by looking at the door. All of the doors in this place looked the same. No, she would have to open it to be sure.

So that's what she had been doing for the past few hours. Wandering through the halls and opening just about every door she came across.

Most of the rooms were empty, though some had remnants of furniture and weapons, probably left by the clan when they moved to Konoha. More importantly, none of them were hers.

Sakura supposed she could have gone looking for one of the brothers, but she was still mad at them. Well, more accurately, she was mad at herself for forgetting her mission and second guessing what she was going to do. Not to mention the fact that they probably had not appreciated her dramatic exit.

But either way, she figured that staying away from both of them would be for the best. Though it probably would have been slightly less infuriating than what she was doing now.

She was currently slamming doors open with increasing intensity, not even bothering to shut them as she passed. Not only was this oddly satisfying, but it also marked where she had already been.

Going down what must have been about the thirtieth hallway, Sakura opened yet another set of doors. Coming to the last one, she busted it open to find a very surprised, very shirtless Sasuke.

She froze. It wasn't like she hadn't seen boys without their shirts on before. Naruto went around shirtless when they trained, and she was a medic, so she was used to it.

However, Naruto was more like a brother, and she was in her professional mode when healing anyone else. Plus, most men did not have such a fantastically sculpted chest and abs.

Still staring, she vaguely realized this was the first time she had seen him without his Akatsuki cloak on.

Sakura just stood there, not saying anything, partially in embarrassment, and partially in apprehension of the glare and yelling she figured would ensue. In fact, the man hated her so much, she wouldn't be surprised if he physically and literally kicked her out.

Instead, Sasuke simply smirked, raised one eyebrow, and said, "Lost?"

Fighting back both a blush and her surprise at his reaction, she blurted out, "No!"

"Oh really? So you just wander around, kicking down doors for the fun of it?" he asked, clearly amused.

"No! I just, just," she stumbled for an excuse, "Ugh, never mind!"

"Hn, whatever," he rolled his eyes. Grabbing a shirt and shrugging it on, he said, "Come on," and proceeded to walk out of the room.

Sakura grudgingly followed, still wary that he didn't seem mad at her. Noticing with embarrassment that his hair was wet, and that he had probably just gotten out of the shower, she sent up a silent thank you that she hadn't accidentally barged in any earlier.

Leading her down the very next hallway, Sasuke opened a door, and there was her room.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief and was about to slip quickly past Sasuke into the sanctuary of her room when she ran face first into something very hard. Correction, someone.

She looked up to see Sasuke, looking down at her. "Careful," he smirked. "I wouldn't be wandering around again like that if I were you. There are some places around here that I don't think you'd like very much."

Stepping aside, he let her through, and Sakura rushed into her room. She hadn't gotten but three feet when she heard him call out, "And Sakura?"

She turned around to face him, with a questioning look in her eyes.

"I don't suppose you would bother to knock next time? For all you knew, I could have been changing, and then we would have a really awkward situation on our hands, wouldn't we?"

And with that, he turned around and left, shutting the door behind him.

Sakura stood there, letting it sink in. He had just used her own words against her! Fighting the urge to either bury her face in a pillow or break something, Sakura sat down and took a deep breath. She had to keep her temper under control.

 _But really_ , she brooded, _it's not my fault that I burst into his room. I didn't even sense a chakra signature behind the door, so he must've been masking his. Plus, he obviously had been aware of the fact that I was looking for my room. It's his fault that he let me wander around that long!_

She was still ruminating on her misfortune when she heard her stomach growl. She didn't know how long she had been knocked out by the sharingan, but she figured it was probably for about a day, considering how hungry she was.

Actually, if she estimated correctly, it was probably about supper time. She debated between waiting for one of the brothers to bring her something and going in search of food herself.

On the one hand, she didn't want to risk getting lost again, but on the other hand, she didn't know if the brothers would even remember or take the time to feed her. And if it was Sasuke, he would probably spit in her food or something.

He may have acted… differently… when she had accidentally gone into his room earlier, but she was still convinced that he hated her. Not to mention the fact that she wasn't entirely sure if he had been kidding when he warned her not to go wandering around anymore.

Still in the middle of making her decision, she heard a knock on her door. Recognizing the chakra signature as that of the older Uchiha, she got up and opened the door.

Itachi was standing there. He had his sharingan activated, as both brothers always did. But unlike before, he was dressed simply in a black shirt with the Uchiha clan symbol on the back and standard shinobi pants. Like Sasuke before, he didn't have his Akatsuki cloak on.

It was strange for Sakura to see them dressed so casually, but this was their home, after all, or at least their temporary one. Maybe it was just odd thinking of them as people outside of Akatsuki, people with feelings, lives, and others they cared about.

Itachi silently motioned for her to follow, and she did so without questioning it. She knew she'd find out what was going on when they got there, and breaking the silence just felt odd. _Hopefully_ , she wished, hearing her stomach make more noise, _we're going to get something to eat._

Walking behind Itachi, Sakura couldn't help but thinking how nice, albeit quiet he had been since she had gotten here. Granted he had knocked her out, but he still somehow seemed polite about it.

Shaking her head, Sakura remembered that this was the man who had killed his entire clan. Somehow, that fact kept slipping her mind. It seemed strange to her that this man was a ruthless killer, but that was why she was here, after all.

He had threatened her friends, and he was after Naruto. She couldn't forget that. She couldn't forget her mission.

Steeling her resolve, she followed Itachi to a set of doors. He opened them to reveal a kitchen with a table and chairs set in one corner.

There was food for three set on plates already. It was a simple meal of ongiri, that had obviously been homemade. Sakura wondered which brother had made the meal, and almost started laughing when she pictured both of them in aprons, trying to cook.

She sat down across from Itachi, and the two of them began silently eating. Not five minutes into their meal, Sasuke walked in, and took the third seat.

Awkward would have been putting it kindly. The meal was excruciatingly silent. Itachi was quiet by nature, Sasuke seemed lost in thought, and Sakura, who would have normally been the one to initiate conversation, was resolved to remain as aloof and detached as possible from the Uchihas.

The silence was deafening.

Finishing her meal quickly and quietly, Sakura excused herself and headed back to her room, relieved to be done with all of that awkwardness.

The route from the kitchen to her room was significantly shorter and less complicated than that to the infirmary, and she found her way back without a problem.

Sitting on her bed, she sighed. Sakura wasn't sure how many more meals like that she could take. If this was going to become a regular thing, than her mission was going to seem very, very, _very_ long.

Getting up, she went to the second door in her room which she still hadn't opened yet. To her relief, it led to a bathroom. There was no shower, but the large bathtub more than made up for that.

Sakura turned on the water and waited for the tub to fill up. She had a feeling that she would be relaxing in it pretty often throughout her stay here if this first day had been any indication.

As she slipped into the bathtub and relaxed, letting the hot water steam up around her, she contemplated the risks of summoning Katsuyu. She couldn't sense the brothers' chakra signatures anywhere near her, but that didn't mean they weren't masking them.

She also knew that Sasuke's room was right down the next hallway. Both brothers were very perceptive, and they would likely notice if she wasn't very subtle about it.

The deciding factor ended up being the fact that she was still pretty low on chakra, and with the seals on her wrists, the jutsu would take too long anyway.

There would be other opportunities to let her master know what was going on. If the Uchihas took off on a mission for the Akatsuki, as they would have to do eventually, she could just summon the slug then. Sakura would just have to be patient, which quickly seemed to be becoming a common theme on this mission.

So while she couldn't report to the Hokage just yet, she could do some spying. After all, her second objective had been to gather information about the rest of Akatsuki.

Drying herself off, she got dressed and slipped out of her room. If one of the brothers found her and asked what she was doing, she could tell him she had gotten either lost or bored.

Walking along the halls, she just started by wandering around, memorizing her surroundings. It would be to her advantage to be able to navigate the hideout easily.

Each time she came to a set of stairs, she went up. Sakura figured that if she kept doing this, she would eventually come to the building at the top of the mountain, which would be her only escape route. Unless, of course, she wanted to punch a hole through the nearest wall, but she figured that might be a little extreme and not very subtle.

The kunoichi wasn't sure what she was looking for exactly. Akatsuki plans, information, or anything pertaining to the organization would have been helpful, but all she was finding were empty rooms.

Every corridor she went down was lit with torches. There was probably some sort of jutsu that kept them perpetually lit, because she didn't think the brothers went around relighting all of them each time they went out. Either way, it somehow managed to accentuate how abandoned the place felt.

Eventually, Sakura just started focusing on finding the next set of stairs, not wanting to stay in those lonely hallways any longer than necessary. They were almost as bad as Orochimaru's lairs.

After about an hour of wandering around and going up stairs, she finally came to the building on top of the mountain. Looking outside, she saw that it was probably close to midnight. She had been there for just over a day, and already she was missing home.

It wasn't that she had never been on a long-term mission before, or a solo mission at that, but this somehow felt different. Maybe it was because this was such an important and dangerous mission, or because Naruto didn't know where she really was. Either way, the whole thing was emotionally taxing, and she was glad for the illusion of escape that being outside provided.

Deciding to enjoy the fresh air while she could, Sakura sat on the roof, and leaning against a wall, closed her eyes.

* * *

She was woken up by the sound of a soft chuckle behind her.

Jumping to her feet, she whirled around to find an amused Sasuke standing several feet behind her.

"You know, there are far more comfortable places to sleep," he raised an eyebrow. "Like a bed, for instance."

"Sorry!" she felt her face turning red. "I just… I didn't mean to… uh… I was… Never mind!"

Sakura took a breath to calm herself, and at the Uchiha's confused look, she started over. "I got bored and decided to look around. I found my way up here and fell asleep on accident."

His face lost its amusement. "I wasn't kidding when I told you not to wander around. Don't go looking in places that don't concern you."

She was about to retort when she saw the expression on his face. He was gritting his teeth, looking like he was about to do something painful.

"Anyway, I-I wanted to tell you that Itachi looks better, and… yeah," he said, not meeting her eyes.

Wait, was he trying to thank her?

Upon seeing Sakura's bewildered expression, he continued. "Whatever. Look, I'm not here for myself. I'm here because Itachi asked me to make sure you weren't lost or anything. So can you make it back on your own?"

Sakura nodded, still slightly shocked at his almost thank you. Left standing alone, she contemplated what could've sparked something that seemed so out of character for the missing nin.

He had obviously been pretty relieved that Itachi wasn't going to die from his disease. In fact, worry about it had probably plagued him for years, but she was still shocked that he had bothered to thank her.

She wouldn't have been surprised if it had been Itachi who had sent Sasuke to thank her. The man was ridiculously polite for being an S-rank criminal.

If she was being honest, this whole mission was really beginning to give her a headache. The Uchihas weren't what she had expected them to be, and she was struggling to remember what they really were, and that their behavior didn't make up for their crimes. It was tiring, getting to know one's enemy.

This was going to be a long mission.

* * *

A/N: I'm going on a mission trip to Mexico, and then I'm going to an Ed Sheeran concert, so this is the last chapter you will be getting for the next week or two. I will try to update as soon as I get back!


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 6

The plan was not going exactly as Sakura had imagined it.

To begin with, she hadn't thought it would take this long. Sure, she knew it would be a while before the Uchiha brothers to let down their guard around her, but it had been almost three weeks, and Sasuke still kept a close eye on each and every healing session she had with Itachi.

The healings themselves had been a surprise, too. The damage to Itachi's eyes was more severe than she had thought.

He was practically blind, and the medic guessed that for the past few months he had been functioning mostly on instinct, skill, and his other senses. He hid it well, probably for his brother's sake, but if Sakura was being honest, it was bad.

She had thought she was going to have to pretend his eyes were hard to heal in order to delay, so that her plan could work. But his eyes were healing at an insanely slow pace, despite the fact that she was actually trying her hardest to heal them.

"The eyes are delicate and complex," she had been explaining to an irritated Sasuke a few days ago, when he had demanded to know why his brother wasn't healed yet, "and the damage to your brother's eyes was extensive. If I don't work carefully and thoroughly, he could end up not being fully healed, or even more damage could be caused."

Despite the fact that the whole process was moving too slow for Sasuke's liking, she was making progress, and Sakura didn't know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.

On one hand, it showed her prowess as a medic and boosted her confidence, which had been bruised when she had been unable to wake that Anbu from Tsukuyomi.

However, she wasn't actually supposed to be healing him fully. Itachi was a threat to Konoha and Naruto, and giving him his sight back only made him more dangerous. She was going to have to kill him before he was fully healed.

Sakura just hated leaving a healing incomplete. It went against her morals as a medic, and she kind of just wanted to prove that she could fully heal him. However, it was necessary.

Reflecting on that train of thought, Sakura pondered how she was going to complete her mission.

Itachi would be easy. It would only take a fraction of a second for her to switch from healing him to damaging him. He would be dead before he even registered what was happening.

Sasuke was a different story.

Just a week ago, a group of missing nin had been foolish enough to attack the Uchiha Hideout. Whether they had been looking for old Uchiha treasures, or if they knew the Uchihas were there and were looking to pick a fight with Akatsuki, Sakura wasn't sure. But either way, what she had seen shocked and terrified her.

She guessed that the nin had been jounin level, but Sasuke picked them apart as if they were genin. The whole fight was fast, brutal, and lasted all of one minute. Itachi didn't even need to join in to help, his assistance had not been needed.

There had been five of them. The first four were picked off quickly and easily, cut through with Sasuke's sword, but the last one had put up a fight, or had at least tried to. But Sasuke had overwhelmed him with a single fire jutsu. He had never stood a chance.

Sasuke's power had shocked her, and it was then that she realized two things.

Firstly, in the forest when they first met, he had let her get away. It had been on purpose, because if he had actually been trying to capture her at that time, she would have never seen it coming until it was too late.

Secondly, there was no way she'd be able to kill him.

Unless she managed to slip some kind of poison into his food, she would have to wait until he left Itachi's side and went far, far way, giving her enough time to escape after killing Itachi. Because if there was one thing Sakura never wanted to encounter, it was an angry Sasuke. And from what she had seen, all of his moods seemed to be centered on his brother.

When she had healed Itachi, Sasuke had been as ecstatic as he was probably capable of being. He had actually been nice to her and had teased her. When she had told him the state of Itachi's eyes, he had gone back to brooding and snapping at her. A simple smile from Itachi, as rare as those were, could lift Sasuke's entire mood. Sakura really had never seen him show much emotion towards anything that wasn't Itachi related.

 _I wonder if he even knows that his brother killed their whole clan_ , she thought. _He acts as if Itachi could do no wrong._

Sakura pondered this a lot, actually, amongst other things, mostly because she had nothing else to really do. Her days pretty much consisted of meals, healings, and occasionally talking with Sasuke. Granted most of that talking was arguing, but it was something to relieve the boredom.

She had chatted with Itachi, too, and she found him to be surprisingly deep, kind, and insightful. However, he was more withdrawn, and didn't speak as often as Sasuke.

The only other chances she had found to entertain herself were the brothers' training sessions. Both boys trained often, and sparred quite a bit. Sakura had stumbled into one of these sparring matches on her fourth day there, and she made a habit of watching them train as often as she could.

She had been tempted a great many times to join in and do some training herself, if only to satisfy her occasional need to punch something out of frustration, but she refrained from asking. She didn't want to give too much of her skills and fighting style away, and if she was being honest, the brothers would probably beat her easily.

For their part, they never really acknowledged her presence or commented on it. Whenever she walked into the training room, they just kept sparring. She didn't know how much they were holding back to hide their skills from her, but regardless, it was still impressive.

The sheer speed of their movements awed her. Even as an impressive jounin in her own right, she could barely keep up with their movements, which basically defeated her plan of familiarizing herself with their fighting styles.

So, Sakura just settled with watching as a form of entertainment, and it was undoubtedly entertaining. Both were evenly matched. Sasuke had speed on his side, and more physical strength. But what Itachi lacked in physical prowess, he made up with experience.

The elder Uchiha was clever, getting himself out of the tightest pinches and foreseeing moves, always keeping three steps ahead of Sasuke.

His movements were also more efficient compared to those of his younger brother. Not a single drop of chakra was wasted, and his timing was impeccable.

The boys often fought with their shirts off. And while Sakura, like any female, could appreciate the view, it also gave her an insight into why they were so evenly matched.

Sasuke was all muscle. He was by no means bulky, but rather was lean, in the way most shinobi are. His body was, from a medical standpoint, at the height of physical fitness.

Itachi was a different story. By all means, he should have been stronger than Sasuke. However, despite that he had more muscle than a civilian might, he was far too thin. His disease had obviously caused some serious weight loss, and it had eaten away at his muscle. He was frailer than a shinobi should be, and he tired easily.

However, through the weeks that Sakura sat, observing the brothers, she began to notice a change in Itachi.

He began to last longer in fights, his movements became even quicker, and he was gaining back muscle and weight, looking far healthier than when she had started watching them.

 _My healing must have really helped him_ , Sakura thought one day as she sat watching them. _But I just made him that much more dangerous._

Sakura would have been lying if she said she didn't feel weak and insignificant watching them spar. The brothers were amazingly strong.

She could tell they were holding back though. They only used taijutsu and the occasional basic ninjutsu, and only ever activated the first stage of the sharingan. She assumed they probably didn't want to give away too much. She was, after all, still the enemy.

What she did learn about them from their fights was more on the psychological side.

Both brothers refrained from hurting the other significantly, as was normal between sparring partners. However, whenever Sasuke had an opening on his brother, he hesitated. He held back all his hits, even the ones that didn't need to be, and Sakura could tell he was hesitant about hurting his brother in any way.

Itachi, however, did not hold the same restraint. Sure, he held back a bit more than normal sparring partners would, but he seemed to go with more of a tough love approach, not wanting to hurt Sasuke, but still wanting him to get better.

It really was intriguing, but Sakura would have been more interested if she didn't have to go through the same argument after every training session.

"Would you like me to heal your injuries?" she would offer, if only to try to gain their trust a bit quicker.

Itachi would accept her offer, but the best she could hope for from Sasuke was for him to ignore her. Sometimes, he would simply glare at her, and if he was having a really bad day, he would yell.

 _At least he lets me heal Itachi,_ Sakura consoled herself. _Which either means he trusts me a little bit, or he just really hates to see Itachi hurting._

This soon became another ritual. She would heal Itachi after their sparring sessions, with Sasuke watching like a hawk, of course, and Sasuke would refuse her assistance.

She almost hoped Itachi would berate him for his rudeness, but it never happened.

 _It's a good thing for him that he never gets any serious injuries,_ Sakura fumed. _But one of these times he will get hurt, and guess who won't heal him._

He really did infuriate her to no end, and gaining his trust was beginning to seem impossible. She thought about just waiting for him to leave, but the brothers never left, at least not while she had been there.

She was surprised Akatsuki didn't have missions for them or something, because really they didn't seem to do much for the organization except being fantastic models for their cloaks. Sakura was curious as to what they did for the organization, and it would help with her mission to gather info, too, for them to actually do something Akatsuki related. If nothing else, it would be a welcome relief to the monotony.

Her wish was fulfilled sooner than she had expected.

* * *

Sakura was sitting at the table, during what was one of the least awkward meals she had eaten while staying at the compound. Sasuke was in one of his better moods, and had actually been talking with her like a civilized person, and Itachi was being pretty talkative.

They were having a discussion about animal summons, and the ideal summon to have. Sakura was biased to Katsuyu, but the Uchihas preferred birds. Itachi and Sasuke had crows and hawks respectively.

She had actually been enjoying herself, until Sasuke and Itachi simultaneously flinched.

"It would seem we are being summoned," Itachi stated, looking at his brother.

Both stood up from the table. Sasuke looked annoyed, while Itachi said to her, "Stay here and finish eating. We should be back soon."

"Don't follow us," Sasuke warned, and the brothers left the room.

Sakura, of course, wasn't going to let this opportunity pass up. She concentrated on their chakra signatures, feeling them stop in a room not too far off. Then they both flared, obviously activating some kind of jutsu.

Sakura left the room and slowly approached the place where Sasuke and Itachi were. When they didn't react to her leaving the kitchen, she pressed on, a bit more confident.

She tried to open the door, but found it locked. However, no one had responded when she had tried to open it, either. Despite this, she decided not to bust the door open. She figured it wouldn't be the best way to gain their trust, and she wasn't about to disobey their orders that blatantly. No, she would wait outside instead, and maybe try to eavesdrop.

However, after the first five minutes, she didn't hear anything. _What exactly were they being summoned to?_ She wondered.

After a while, she decided to try opening the door again, without breaking it. Fiddling with the lock, the door suddenly gave, and she looked up into the face of a very irritated Sasuke.

She expected him to yell at her, but instead, he grabbed her wrist and started walking toward her room.

Itachi quickly caught up, and it was then that Sakura witnessed the closest thing to an argument that she had seen the Uchiha brothers ever come to.

"I say we don't even go," Sasuke growled. "It's not like they need us for this mission anyway. It's just Orochimaru, they should be able to handle it."

 _Orochimaru_ , Sakura recognized the name as that of the man who had invaded Konoha during the chunin exams, after Naoki's death. Kakashi had told them they couldn't participate without three members on their team, but they had watched.

They had been there during the invasion. They had witnessed the attack and had fought in the battle. People had died. Lee had died. Orochimaru was a name Sakura associated with death, and in the back of her mind, she was glad Akatsuki was going after him.

"Perhaps," Itachi calmly said to Sasuke, "but Leader has assigned us to this mission. And we are part of this organization, despite how much you don't want to be."

"I know. But what are we supposed to do with _her_?" he gestured to Sakura. "Deidara and Sasori will be here in less than a day, and we can't exactly leave her here on her own."

Sakura recognized both names from the bingo book. They had been the Akatsuki pair that had captured Gaara, and they had killed Kankuro and one of the elders from Suna had given her life to save the Kazekage. They had also killed the team Konoha had sent to retrieve Gaara. Sakura shuddered, thinking of the abilities that the bingo book had listed. They were dangerous.

"We could bring her with us," Itachi suggested. "I need her to keep healing my eyes anyway."

"No," Sasuke said, with more authority than he normally spoke to his brother with. "The other members of Akatsuki don't exactly know about our little side project. Besides, she'll just get in the way."

"As opposed to leaving her here to her own devices?" Itachi raised an eyebrow.

"Fine," Sasuke relented, "we'll take her with us, but we need to think of a cover story. This is Uchiha business, and the others don't need to know."

He continued to rant on about how they shouldn't even know where the Uchiha Compound is, and the stupidity of the mission, but Sakura tuned him out.

 _The others don't need to know, they don't need to know how ill you are, Itachi_ , Sakura heard the unspoken words. _So the rest of Akatsuki doesn't know about Itachi's illness. How much are they hiding, and why?  
_

This was the first real news Sakura had gotten on Akatsuki in the three weeks she had been there, and what kind of shinobi would she be if she didn't use this to her advantage?

If there was a rift amongst Akatsuki members, she was going to exploit it.

* * *

A/N: Wow, it's been a while since I've updated. Sorry about that! Work, weddings, and general exhaustion have gotten in the way of my writing, but hey, I finally got it done, so I hope you enjoyed it!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 7

Less than a day was not enough time to prepare for the arrival of the other Akatsuki members and the following mission.

After the heated discussion between Sasuke and Itachi about what to do with her, Sakura was left in her room with the instructions to prepare for a long term mission.

There wasn't much for her to prepare for. All of her belongings were still in the pack she brought, so instead she took the time to familiarize herself with the bingo book entries of the two Akatsuki newcomers.

Her bingo book gave the basic information it had on every missing nin, but Tsunade had included all of the information they had on each and every Akatsuki member in Sakura's book, information that could be revealed with a simple jutsu.

Gathering the necessary chakra as quickly as the seals on her arms would let her, Sakura made the hand seals and touched the pages on Deidara and Sasori.

They were actually two of the members they had the most information on. After the attack on Gaara and the defeat of the teams sent to retrieve him, the few surviving shinobi who had faced the Akatsuki had given their reports on the abilities of the two men.

Deidara had been described as an explosives specialist. He apparently had mouths on his hands, used to form bombs out of special clay. The picture showed a young man with long blonde hair. He was described as a long-range fighter, an excellent strategist, and a dangerous threat. Like his partner, he was listed as S-rank.

Sasori was a puppet master with a knack for poisons. The photo showed a young man with red hair, but reports of those who faced him described him as a hunched over old man with a mask and a tail. According to them, this was one of his puppets, and he hid inside it during the whole battle. His poisons must have also been top notch. Kankuro had been hit by one trying to save his brother, and had died despite Suna's best efforts to neutralize the poison.

They were a dangerous pair, and each man was listed as flee on sight for anyone A-rank or lower.

The added notes on each man's personality, however, were probably what would help Sakura the most.

Deidara was said to be enthusiastic about his "art" and slightly crazy. He was also described as smug, rude, and cruel. _Whoever wrote up the report on this guy must really have hated him_ , Sakura concluded, seeing what was basically a small rant about the missing nin.

On the other hand, Sasori was described as impatient, and apparently hated to be kept waiting. He had also allegedly taken the shinobi he had killed and turned them into puppets. He had even attacked his own grandmother, who had barely escaped with and revived Gaara's body.

 _Is everyone in Akatsuki this strange and crazy?_ Sakura shuddered. _The Uchihas are bad enough, but these guys just seem to be a whole new level of insane._

"Speak of the devil," she muttered as her door opened to reveal said Uchihas.

"We need to fill you in on what your cover story is going to be," Sasuke informed her.

"Cover story," she repeated. "Why, exactly, do we need a cover story?"

"It is unnecessary for the other members of Akatsuki to know about my condition," Itachi told her.

"And," Sasuke added, pointedly, "it's for your protection. Who knows what they would do if they found out you were actually our enemy?"

Sakura could pick up on the unspoken threat: If you tell them about Itachi's condition, there will be consequences.

"So what's my cover, then?" she asked, feeling that it was safer to play along.

"You are our personal contact in Konoha, and we are bringing you along to look at Orochimaru's research to see if any of it will be beneficial to us," Itachi began.

"If they question it any further," Sasuke continued, "we'll tell them it's Uchiha business. We tend to be pretty private anyway, so they shouldn't question it too much."

"So am I going to have a fake name or anything else I should know about, so our stories match?" Sakura wondered, confused about how little information they were giving her on her cover story.

"The best lies are founded in the truth," Itachi looked at her. "Your name, rank, and everything else will be the same. The only difference is your reason for being here. Instead of your loyalties being to Konoha, they are now to the Uchiha clan."

Sakura nodded. It made sense for them to change as little as possible. And, if she wore her gloves, they wouldn't be able to see the chakra seals on her wrists. Even her position as a medic would fit in with the story, because out of all of them, she would be the one to get the most out of Orochimaru's research. Despite the fact that the cover of making the Hokage's apprentice a spy might seem a bit farfetched, it should work.

The main problem Sakura had with the plan was that it changed too little. It would have been easier on her if she was supposed to be acting as a completely different person. But instead, she was supposed to be herself, only with different loyalties.

The Uchiha brothers were paranoid enough people that they wouldn't choose someone to spy for them unless they trusted that person explicitly. Meaning, she would have to put up a good act for the other Akatsuki to believe.

For an act to be convincing, you couldn't just pretend to be your character. It had to go deeper than that. You had to live as your character, and convince yourself that you were that person.

She was already having a hard enough time distancing herself from the men she was supposed kill, but to have to act like she was on their side for the duration of this mission would basically negate any progress she had made with distancing herself from them.

 _Really_ , she sighed, _this mission is going to be a lot harder than I thought. At least I can keep my hitai-ate on. I am supposed to be "undercover" in Konoha, after all.  
_

Sasuke and Itachi were just filling her in on how she was to heal Itachi in private, something that she could only imagine the assumptions the rest of Akatsuki would make about, and how she should take a look at Orochimaru's research once they kill him, when all of a sudden a blob started rising out of the ground.

Sakura went into automatic defense mode, but relaxed when she saw Itachi and Sasuke react with only mild annoyance.

As it kept rising, the blob began to take the shape of a man, if you could call it that. It had green hair, and half of it was white, while the other half was black. On its sides were what seemed to be two giant green leaves.

"Zetsu," Sasuke addressed the thing, not bothering to hide his annoyance, "what are you doing here?"

Sakura took comfort in the fact that it seemed she wasn't the only one who annoyed Sasuke, reaffirming her belief that the only person he actually liked was his brother.

"We came to inform you that Kisame and Tobi will be coming along for this mission, and that they, along with Deidara and Sasori, will be here shortly," a deep voice came out of the creature.

"Why?" Itachi raised an eyebrow. "I hardly think we need six Akatsuki members to take down Orochimaru."

"Leader just wants to be extra careful," a new voice came from Zetsu. "Besides, Tobi's not a full member. He doesn't even have a ring."

Both brothers exchanged looks that Sakura couldn't decipher, but she guessed it had something to do either with this person named Tobi or the rings they all wore.

"And who's this?" the second, higher pitched voice asked, as the creature nodded towards Sakura.

"Our contact from Konoha." Itachi replied smoothly. "She was already here giving us her regular report when we heard about the mission. She will be accompanying us so she can examine Orochimaru's work."

"What for?" the same voice, that seemed to be coming out of the white half, questioned.

"Uchiha business," Sasuke glared, stepping between Sakura and Zetsu. "And speaking of which, our clan's compound is not for Akatsuki use. These are our private living quarters. So if you have no more to tell us, then you can show yourself out."

"Perhaps you shouldn't be so rude, boy," the black half warned. "Don't forget all that Akatsuki has done for you."

And with that, Zetsu sank back into the ground.

"I don't even know why we're still with Akatsuki," Sasuke growled.

"They offer protection," Itachi stated. "Besides, Akatsuki is not an organization you just leave or say no to."

The brothers seemed to simultaneously remember that Sakura was in the room, and quickly exited. But as they left, she caught one last word from Itachi, "Soon."

* * *

She sat in her room for about an hour, thoroughly confused about what she had heard Itachi and Sasuke talking about. And when the brothers returned, they seemed on edge.

"The others are approaching," Itachi informed her. "We will meet them outside."

Sakura gathered her things and followed the Uchihas. They went up, and came to the building on top of the mountain where she had first arrived. Stepping outside, she saw four figures there waiting for them.

Two of them were obviously Deidara and Sasori. They matched their pictures perfectly. Well, Sasori matched the description of his puppet, anyway.

Kisame was a name she recognized as a notorious missing nin and one of the Seven Swordsmen. Looking at the two strangers, she figured the blue one with the giant sword must be him.

That left the man in the orange mask as the mysterious Tobi. He was wearing an Akatsuki cloak, but Sakura noted the absence of the ring everyone else wore.

 _That's what Zetsu must have meant when he said Tobi wasn't a full member. The ring must be significant,_ she mused.

She could see why he wasn't made a full member yet. The man acted like an absolute child. As they neared the group, she could hear him shouting "Deidara-senpai!" like a small child. Said "senpai" was attacking Tobi with small bombs, not enough to kill, but enough to get scare the masked man into running around like an idiot.

As Sakura and the brothers neared the others, they froze, eyes locked onto Sakura.

"Who's this, yeah?" Deidara asked, looking at the kunoichi up and down in a not-so-subtle way.

Once again, Sasuke stepped in front of her, "She's our personal contact from Konoha. We're bringing her along to take a look at Orochimaru's research once we're done with him."

"Your _personal_ contact, hn?" Deidara raised an eyebrow, and Kisame grinned.

"Sasuke-kun has a girlfriend?" Tobi exclaimed, dodging the last of Deidara's bombs.

Sakura inwardly blanched at what they were insinuating, but kept a neutral expression on the outside. She had a façade to keep up, after all.

For his part, Sasuke just looked mildly more irritated, and Itachi looked slightly amused.

"Regardless of who she is, we need to get going," Sasori grumbled. "I don't like to be kept waiting."

Nodding, the rest of the men stopped their antics, and the group quickly took off, heading north towards sound country.

* * *

Unlike during missions for Konoha, the Akatsuki didn't travel in a set, strategized formation, not that they needed to. Each member was powerful enough to take care of anything that came their way.

Instead, they traveled in their usual pairs, which left Sakura between Sasuke and Itachi, the two men guarding her without it being conspicuous. If anything, to the rest of Akatsuki, it might look like they were being protective.

As they traveled, Itachi filled her in on the details of the mission.

"Our leader has decided to tie up loose ends of our organization, and is therefore sending us to take care of Orochimaru. We are to kill him and his associate, Kabuto, as well as destroy any and all information he may have stored on Akatsuki."

"But," Sasuke interrupted, "I think Leader is overestimating the snake bastard. Orochimaru is old and weak. Any one member should have been able to handle both him and his assistant. Two members would have been more than enough. Sending three whole teams? That's overkill."

"I agree," Itachi nodded. "Orochimaru must either have done something to seriously anger Leader, or he is hiding something of value."

The brothers continued to talk about the snake Sannin, while Sakura observed the rest of Akatsuki.

Deidara and Sasori were up ahead, arguing about art. And from the tone of their conversation, it sounded like it was one they were having for the hundredth time.

Kisame and Tobi were behind them. Glancing back, she could mostly just see Tobi gesturing, and Kisame occasionally saying something, but she couldn't pick up on any of their conversation. Judging from Kisame's body language, though, she could tell that Tobi was being, well, Tobi.

For their part, Sasuke and Itachi mainly kept to themselves, and Sakura could see what Sasuke meant when he had said that they were "private people." _More like anti-social if you ask me_ , she brooded, fighting boredom and frustration from not being able to gather more information on the other Akatsuki members.

They continued traveling all day, heading straight through fire country up to sound, but avoiding Konoha.

By the time they stopped to rest for the night, Sakura had to admit that she was tired. Maybe it was just that she was out of shape from doing practically nothing the past few weeks, or that the chakra seals were affecting her more than she had calculated. It could also have something to do with the fact that she was the only one carrying a pack. Apparently, the rest of them were carrying everything they needed in scrolls.

Or, perhaps the Akatsuki were just all that much better. They really were on a whole other level than most shinobi.

Sakura was tempted to pull out her bingo book to see the stats on the newcomers, as she knew for a fact Kisame was in there, but she decided not to. It would be far too risky. If one of them saw the Uchihas' supposed "spy" looking at a Konoha issued bingo book, it would raise a few unwanted questions.

She did remember vague details about Kisame, though. She knew he specialized in water jutsu, and there was something about his sword that was listed in there, too. Sakura just couldn't recall exactly what. And, she really hoped she wouldn't have to find out.

If luck was on her side, she wouldn't end up having to fight either Orochimaru or any Akatsuki. If she did, though, she certainly wouldn't last long with no weapons and those chakra seals on her wrists.

However, despite the danger these new Akatsuki would bring, it did help her complete one part of her mission. Thanks to her, Konoha now had the identities of two more Akatsuki members. Well, one and a half, since Tobi apparently wasn't a full member.

She wished she only had a way to relay information to Tsunade immediately. Summoning Katsuyu was too risky and too difficult with those seals on her wrists. She would just have to wait until she returned to Konoha to tell them about new information on Akatsuki.

Looking around their campsite, it was almost surreal of how much this reminded her of missions back home. She had to remind herself that these men were hardened criminals. Though it was a bit entertaining watching these ruthless killers set out sleeping bags and make a fire.

Sakura released her own things from one of her scrolls and set them up at the edge of the clearing, a bit of a ways away from the rest of Akatsuki. Itachi and Sasuke put theirs near her, a gesture that Sakura recognized as them keeping an eye on her so she wouldn't escape. Not that she could figure out why they were still paranoid about that. She had come to them on her own volition, hadn't she?

However, she could only imagine what it looked like to the rest of Akatsuki. Their imaginations were likely even more fueled when Itachi led her away from the clearing into the forest. Sakura knew this was so she could heal his eyes, but that wasn't the impression the rest of Akatsuki was getting, judging from Deidara and Kisame's crude remarks.

Apparently, this was what the Uchihas had wanted the rest of Akatsuki to assume, because for once, Sasuke didn't accompany them to the healing session. Either that or they didn't want them getting an even worse impression on what they were doing in the woods.

Regardless, Sakura was elated to finally have a healing session alone with Itachi. Despite the fact that she couldn't take her shot with Sasuke and the rest of Akatsuki so close, it was a step in the right direction. _Maybe after this_ , she hoped, _Sasuke won't hover over every healing, and then I'll finally have my chance, and I'll be able to get done with this mission._

Her elation was quickly diminished when she and Itachi arrived back to where the rest of them were staying. The not so subtle looks and remarks made her feel dirty, despite the fact that she had done absolutely nothing. And it didn't help that she couldn't do anything about it. It took all her will power to control her temper and not strangle them all.

However, with one simple look from Itachi, they fell silent. Well, most of them did. Tobi, however, didn't seem to have the common sense to shut up, and was instead rattling on about how he had thought Sakura-chan was Sasuke-kun's girlfriend, and not Itachi-kun's.

Not for the first time, Sakura wondered how such a man had even gotten into Akatsuki.

Tobi's confusion was escalated to whole new levels when Sasuke gave Sakura some of his food. Apparently, meals were a fend-for-yourself kind of thing, and Sakura hadn't packed any food with her besides the standard soldier pills.

Upon seeing her confusion and hunger, Sasuke had silently given her some of his meal, an act that had not gone unnoticed by the rest of Akatsuki.

It was exhausting, really, trying to maintain her cover while not encouraging the idea that she was actually… "with" either brother.

And as she drifted off to sleep, Sakura was grateful for the slight reprieve, although she knew it would only get worse in the days to come.


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 8

The next day there was an almost tangible change in the atmosphere.

No one teased her, and the innuendos from Kisame and Deidara just stopped. The only one who didn't take on a more serious mood was Tobi, and Sakura doubted that he was ever actually serious. And even then, he was less obnoxious than his usual self.

She wondered if it was about the mission. Itachi and Sasuke had told her that they should easily be able to take out Orochimaru, so she doubted there were any nerves about that.

Maybe it was the fact that he was an ex-Akatsuki member. Perhaps they were getting mixed feelings about killing an old comrade.

Regardless of the reason, there was tension amongst the Akatsuki, and Sakura would have been lying id she said it wasn't making her nervous.

They had already passed the border between fire and sound countries, and were nearing Oto, one of the few hidden villages she had never been to. Not that she had any desire to go there.

Tsunade had told her of the reasons why Orochimaru left Konoha. If that man was continuing his experiments, she shuddered at the thought of him having an entire village under his command.

Sakura wasn't entirely sure what she was expecting from such a village, but as the group slowed and Itachi led her aside, she figured she'd find out soon enough.

They came to a stop outside a small building set partially underground, but Sakura didn't have the time to look at it as Itachi pulled her away a good distance from the rest of them.

"That's Otogakure?" she asked him, confused.

"Orochimaru may be the leader of Oto, but he doesn't have one set place for his village, nor does he stay in any place for long. This is just one of series of hideouts he uses to evade those who wish him harm. Our information says he is here, along with Kabuto and many other, insignificant, low-ranking shinobi of his," Itachi informed her.

"Well, they may be insignificant to you, but how am I supposed to fight anyone with these on my wrists?" she hissed at him, pulling down the top of her glove for emphasis.

"You won't be fighting anyone."

"What, then? You expect me to stay out here like a sitting duck, to be killed by anyone who escapes your little massacre?"

Itachi visibly flinched at her word choice, but remained calm.

"No, you are to come with us. Sasuke and I will not let any harm come to you."

She looked at him, unsure if she should take his word for it. But, really, what choice did she have? Besides, she figured she would be of more use to them alive than dead. She would just have to hope nothing would go wrong.

They walked back to the rest of their group, who were waiting outside the entrance of what she guessed to be an underground labyrinth of sorts. Steeling herself for the upcoming battle, during which she would be utterly defenseless, she stood closer to the Uchihas. They might have been her enemies and targets, but they were also her only protection at the moment.

The seven of them started walking into the building, far too casually for the situation. Itachi closed his eyes in concentration, opening them a few seconds later, before nodding and leading them down a corridor.

The group picked up the pace, heading towards their old comrade. After dozens of twists and turns, they come to a stop inside a large room that appeared to be for training. Standing, surrounded by dozens of shinobi, was the snake man himself.

 _He was expecting us_ , Sakura concluded, astonished that Akatsuki were being out done by this man. _He must have a spy in their organization or something._

Still, despite Orochimaru's small army, she knew he didn't stand a chance, not against Akatsuki. Any one of the men standing around her could have taken out that army single-handedly.

Stepping back and closer to the brothers, she looked to the rest of Akatsuki, expecting the hot-headed Deidara to attack first. Instead, he just stood there, as did the rest of Akatsuki. They stood, facing Orochimaru, until suddenly Deidara let out a loud chuckle. His chuckles grew into laughter, and soon he was laughing uncontrollably.

Wondering why he was acting so strange, Sakura looked to Sasuke and Itachi. They looked almost as confused and apprehensive as she felt, though they were definitely hiding it better.

She looked back to Deidara. He turned the face them and gave a crazed grin. Itachi quickly grabbed Sakura, and jumped back. She was about to protest when a bomb hit where they had just been standing.

Sasuke unsheathed his sword and glared, "What the hell, Deidara?"

Sakura flinched as Orochimaru gave out a small chuckle, "Still haven't figured it out, Sasuke-kun?"

"Leader knows about your treachery, yeah," Deidara gloated. "And now, he wants you gone."

"Treachery? What the hell are you talking about?" Sasuke demanded.

Sakura looked up at Itachi, who was still holding her. His eyes narrowed slightly. He set Sakura down and quickly performed a series of hand seals. Touching her wrists, she saw the chakra seals on her wrists quickly recede.

Looking at him in confusion, she saw his eyes activated with the mangekyo. _He's preparing to fight_ , she realized, _and he wants me to fight with him._

Sasuke looked at his brother, thoroughly confused, but Itachi gave him a look, telling him that he'd explain later, and that seemed to be good enough for Sasuke.

Deidara, who appeared to be thoroughly enjoying the whole thing, took it upon himself to explain. "Leader wants you dead, yeah. We told snake man here he could have Sasuke's sharingan if he'd help us take you out."

"It was all a set up," Sasuke murmured.

Several more bombs headed after them, which they easily evaded. Then, Orochimaru gave the signal, and his army started attacking. Tired of waiting, Sakura jumped into the fray, taking out shinobi left and right, glad to have full access to her chakra again. She wasn't sure what was going on, but if Itachi and Sasuke had supposedly betrayed Akatsuki, that was good enough for her to fight with them.

Separate battles soon began to take shape. Deidara had gone right for Itachi, shouting about how his art was superior and that he'd have his revenge. Sasori joined in, but with far less enthusiasm than his partner, staying back and being more cautious around the dangerous Uchiha.

Sasuke began fighting with Kisame and Tobi. It was sword against sword. Kisame was the stronger opponent, but Sasuke made up for it with his speed and agility. Tobi was more of an annoyance than anything, somehow evading Sasuke's blows while managing to land insignificant hits on the younger shinobi.

That left Sakura with Orochimaru and his hordes. The Sannin had yet to join the battle, currently hanging back, watching Sasuke's battle with increasing interest.

However, Sakura knew it was only a matter of time before he joined in the battle, and she had no idea as to how she'd hold up against him. She may have been Tsunade's apprentice, but she knew her master's old teammate was good. She was just glad she only had to deal with the small fry at the moment.

There were significantly less men than Sakura had originally estimated, and none of them were higher than the ranking of chunin. After several minutes of fighting, she had defeated the last of them.

She wondered if the Sannin had brought such weak men because he knew they were likely to get slaughtered. He was probably trying to keep up his end of the bargain without losing anyone of importance, getting the sharingan with minimal loss.

Looking over to Orochimaru, she saw that he was still simply standing there. Not wanting to provoke him into fighting, she instead grabbed several kunai from the fallen sound shinobi and looked back to the two other fights.

Sasuke seemed standing his ground well against the blue shinobi and his masked partner. Looking over to Itachi, she saw that he was not faring quite as well.

She realized that he must be at a disadvantage against this particular pair. His genjutsu was his main strength, but he couldn't make eye contact with Sasori, who was hidden away in his puppet. Deidara had his right eye closed, and was shouting about how genjutsu wouldn't work on him.

Instead, Itachi was relying on ninjutsu and taijutsu, doing more evading than attacking. Deidara's bombs and Sasori's poisoned needles were flying at him from every direction. Though he wasn't being overwhelmed, he also wasn't winning.

For their part, Sasori and Deidara seemed to have their hands full with Itachi, and were quite preoccupied, which suited Sakura just fine.

Itachi sent a massive fire ball to Sasori, and with impeccable timing, she jumped in and hit Sasori full force, just as he dodged Itachi's jutsu.

The puppet around him broke, and a cloaked figure slipped off to the side. Itachi took advantage of the distraction to join Sakura where she stood. Kisame and Sasuke's fight must have been likewise interrupted, because Sasuke quickly joined them.

Itachi and Sasuke each made two clones and sent them out, distracting the others. Itachi grabbed Sakura's arm and they made their way to the door. Using Amaterasu, he lit the room aflame, focusing on the doorway, practically sealing the exit behind them.

"It's only a matter of time before they break their way out of there and come after us," Sasuke said as they sprinted out of the building. "We need to get away from here."

"Hn," Itachi agreed. "We can't take all of them on and win. We need to leave, go somewhere that no other Akatsuki knows about."

Sasuke looked at Itachi and they nodded, evidently having the same place in mind.

Forming a quick series of hand seals, they were about to do a teleportation jutsu when a swirl started forming in the air right before them. It quickly formed into Tobi. Sakura blinked, shocked to see the masked man.

"Madara," Itachi addressed him.

 _Madara? But wasn't that the name of one of Konoha's founders?_ Sakura recalled. _Wasn't he an Uchiha?_

"Itachi," came a deep voice that definitely wasn't Tobi, "to think it would come to this. If only your loyalties weren't so skewed."

"Our loyalties are first and foremost to the clan," Sasuke interjected, "as they should be."

"The clan? What clan?" Madara mocked. "There's no clan left. Besides, ask your brother where _his_ loyalties lie."

Sasuke looked to Itachi in confusion, but only for a second, before turning back to Madara. "I don't care where his loyalties lie. He's my brother and I trust him. _My_ loyalties are to him, not your stupid organization."

"Don't forget who took you two in after the massacre," Madara warned. "There's no way the two of you would have survived on your own, amidst a world of hunter nins and missing nins. Itachi would never have been able to make it, especially with a useless little brother to drag along."

"Maybe I was when I was eight, but how about you find out just how useless I am right now."

"Sasuke, enough," Itachi cautioned. "He's just trying to bait you into an unnecessary fight. We need to leave."

Sasuke nodded reluctantly and grabbed Sakura's wrist. Performing the same seals as before, they suddenly disappeared and came to in a well-furnished room.

"Where are we?" Sakura asked.

"This is one of our safe houses," Itachi told her. "We bought this a few years ago, and none of the other Akatsuki know about it."

"We can't go back to the Uchiha hideout, or any other Uchiha place," Sasuke explained. "Since Madara knows them all."

"That makes sense," she nodded. "The real question is, what exactly was that back there? What did he mean you were traitors?"

"We've never been explicitly loyal to Akatsuki. It was more of an alliance of convenience. The association with their name protected us in the early years, as well as physical protection," Itachi told her.

"But, what did he mean when he said we betrayed them?" Sasuke demanded. "We've never done anything like that. What did he mean when he said your loyalties were elsewhere? To who?"

Itachi paused, then simply stated, "Konoha."

"Konoha?" Sasuke was incredulous. "Konoha _killed_ our clan, our family! How could you be loyal to them?"

"I'm sorry," Sakura interrupted, "but Konoha didn't kill your clan, your brother did that."

"And why exactly would he kill his own family? It makes no sense. Why do you think we had to leave? Konoha wanted us dead, all of us. They hate the Uchiha."

"That's not true! Your brother went psycho and killed all your clan, taking you with him."

"Konoha framed him. That's what they told all of you, that he did it, to cover up their dirty little secret. My brother is innocent. And our lives have been hell because of what your village did to us and our family."

"Your lives have been hell because of what your brother did, and the fact that you chose to live as criminals. Besides, why the hell would my village issue the annihilation of an entire clan?"

"Enough," Itachi stepped between the two shinobi. "If you want to know the truth, I will tell you."

Sasuke and Sakura looked at each other and nodded, curiosity overcoming their anger.

They listened as Itachi told his tale. He explained the feud between the Uchiha and the Senju, the formation of Konoha, and the battle between Madara and Hashirama. He told them of the Kyuubi attack and the growing dissent between the village and the clan. And finally, he explained his last mission.

"I knew I had to follow my orders, for the sake of the village. So many more people would have died. But, I could not follow through completely. I could not kill you, Sasuke. But, I also couldn't trust Danzo to keep his word about leaving you alone. I had to bring you with me. I was offered a place in Akatsuki by Madara, who had helped me with the massacre. I have been feeding information to Konoha and working against Akatsuki ever since."

Sakura was beyond shocked by this revelation, and glancing over at Sasuke, she knew he wasn't doing much better. He was simply staring, looking lost and confused.

"Sasuke, I am sorry. If there had been any other way-"

"Stop. Just, not now," Sasuke stood up and headed out the door. "I- I just… need some time."

Sakura looked back at Itachi, who, looked deeply troubled.

"If what you said is true," she began, "then why have you not returned to Konoha and explained everything to Tsunade. I'm sure she would have taken you back. You could've had a life there."

"No one was ever supposed to know about this. I would have been happier dying with this secret. It would cause too much dissent amongst the people if it were to be revealed. At first I had planned on sending Sasuke back to the village once Danzo was gone, but it just never happened. We got in too deep with Akatsuki, and I had to tell Sasuke things that weren't true."

"My only goal now is to keep him safe, which is why I consented to bringing you in to help me. I was dying, and if I was gone, I could no longer protect Sasuke. I apologize for bringing you into all of this."

"So why stay in Akatsuki? The two of you are strong enough now. Why didn't you just leave?"

"We were going to leave eventually, but I wanted to stay long enough to bring Akatsuki down. They're far too dangerous to be left alone. Sasuke, however, was unaware that I was working against them."

"So, this whole time you've been shouldering all this alone?" she murmured. "How lonely."

Itachi didn't reply, but instead looked off in the direction his brother had gone.

As confused as Sakura was about all this, it somehow made sense. The killer and criminal Itachi was made out to be did not reflect him or his actions in the least. He was too peaceful, too kind to be a murderer.

Sakura knew she should be more suspicious of his story, or at least question it before accepting it so fully, but she couldn't bring herself to doubt it. There was something about the sadness in his eyes that just couldn't be faked.

The part that she couldn't comprehend was that Konoha would order such a mission. Sure, she couldn't stand the elders or Danzo, but would they really be that cruel to have a child slaughter his family?

And if they were, why on earth did the third Hokage allow it. At the very least, they could've had other ANBU do it. Making Itachi carry out the massacre was beyond heartless.

And now that she knew the ugly truth, what should she do? What could she do?

* * *

A/N: Well, I'm going to assume no one is that far behind in the series that this is going to be a spoiler, but "Tobi" is still Obito in this story. It's just that Itachi knows him as Madara, so that's what we'll call him for now, since none of our main characters are yet aware of his true identity.


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

A/N: Wow, it has been a really long time since I updated. So sorry! First semester of college was super busy. Anywho, hopefully, I'll be able to update a few times during winter break.

Update: Just fixed a couple of spelling errors.

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 9

Sakura was just finishing up her message to Tsunade through Katsuyu. No vital information was discussed. That could be saved for the personal report when she came back. All she said was that the nature of the mission had changed and it would be for the best if she returned quickly to give a full report.

She knew it would be a while before Tsunade summoned Katsuyu and sent a message back, so she decided to check on the brothers.

Sasuke had been gone for hours, and when she had gone to send her message, Itachi had gone looking for his brother. He should have easily found him by now if he was going to find him at all.

Leaving the house that was their new hiding place, Sakura ran into Itachi, who seemed to be just returning.

She looked at him, and he simply shook his head. "Do you want me to look for him?" she offered, though she doubted she would be able to find him any easier than his brother.

"It's not that I cannot find him. But Sasuke simply does not _want_ to be found."

She looked to the ground, thinking of what she could do. "Well, maybe I should go talk to him…" she offered, looking up to see Itachi entering the house, either not having heard her offer or believing it to be pointless and ignoring it.

 _Maybe I should just go talk to him anyway. Maybe he just needs an outside perspective on all this._

Sakura formed a seal with her hands, concentrating on the chakra signature that had become so familiar over the past few weeks. After a little while, she was able to get a read on his chakra.

 _I can see why Itachi thought Sasuke didn't want to be found_ , she mused, feeling waves of anger and confusion rolling off of the younger Uchiha's sloppily concealed signature.

Deciding to go against her better judgment, Sakura followed the chakra. Maybe it was because it was just in her nature to want to fix people, but it was as if she couldn't help herself.

As she went, the trees began to clear and she was soon following a river. And when she finally found him, he was standing at the top of a waterfall, chakra rippling around him. His head was bowed and his knuckles had turned white from clenched fists, slightly trembling.

He didn't acknowledge her presence at first. She was trying to figure out how to proceed when he turned around and looked at her, eyes blazing red with the Sharingan.

She hadn't known it was possible for one look to be so angry and yet so lost. _It's like he's not even seeing me._ It reminded her of Naruto in a way. All that blind rage and no other outlet but violence.

 _Maybe this wasn't a good idea_. She met his eyes and slowly started walking towards him. No, it wasn't a good idea, but she was already here and she owed it to them to at least try. The anger in his eyes scared her, but she was not concerned for her own safety. She was mostly scared that he would lose himself to this hatred.

Perhaps Sakura had come to care about the brothers without realizing it, or maybe Sasuke just reminded her of Naruto too much in this moment, but something made her need to make sure he didn't get lost in the darkness and anger that were quickly overcoming him.

"Sasuke," she looked at him intently. His head snapped to her, seeming to truly see her for the first time since she had gotten there. But his eyes still gleamed with betrayal and anger that seemed to be suddenly directed at her.

"He chose you," he spat out. "He chose _you_ and your damned village over me and my family. _You!_ He chose you and you used him and abandoned him. Left him to _rot_ as a traitor and to be hunted for the rest of his days as a _criminal!_ You manipulated him and used him like a tool. You _made_ him abandon us! You forced him to kill his family in cold blood. And how do you repay him? You exile him and hunt him down like some kind of animal! Yet he still chose _you._ "

She stood with wide eyes, trembling. _He's blaming me?_ It was truly frightening to have all that anger directed at her, but it also pissed her off to be blamed for something she was innocent of.

"Enough!" she snapped back. "I didn't know about the massacre or his mission. None of us did. And from what your brother said, it sounds like the only ones who knew were the third hokage and his advisors. And while we're on the subject, _I_ had nothing to do with it. I was just as old as you when it happened, just a child, so stop blaming me just because you're angry."

"No," he chuckled without humor. "No, you didn't do anything," he agreed, his face turning serious, and Sakura felt a swirl of hope before he demolished it with a sneer. "You're just a useless kunoichi from a useless village. You came to us and betrayed your friends to ensure their safety because you were too _weak_ to protect them."

His words stung more than he could have known. She had been useless. Weak. She hadn't been strong enough to protect Naoki on their first mission. She hadn't been strong enough to save Lee during the invasion. Instead, her friend died in her arms. Both of them had.

That was why she trained. She trained to grow stronger, to protect the ones she loved. Now she was a skilled jounin in her own right and her medical prowess was second only to Tsunade's. She would never be called _weak_ again. Her weakness was what had killed Naomi and Lee. She never wanted to hear that word directed at her again.

Sakura looked at him with a withering glare, his insult temporarily blinding her self-preservation and common sense.

"I. Am. Not. _Weak!_ " she growled. Angry tears filled her eyes as she lunged for him. He dodged deftly, and, moving to quickly for Sakura to track, appeared in front of her, his blazing red eyes meeting her green ones.

She let her fists fly, and he blocked and dodged every punch, returning several of his own. It was all fists and fury, neither shinobi bothering to use any other skills, but rather letting their anger out with simple but furious taijutsu.

Sakura saw an opening and took it, but was unprepared for Sasuke's hand grabbing her attacking fist. He quickly flipped her and pinned her to the ground, his hands pinning hers on either side of her head and his legs locking hers in place. She looked up into his face, its fury mirroring her own.

And it scared her. This was the anger she had wanted to save him from, yet she had succumbed to it herself. The fury drained out of her and she remembered her original purpose for coming here.

Using the element of surprise, she brought her head up to his, their foreheads clashing with extreme force. His second of shock was enough for her get the upper hand and switch their positions. She channeled her chakra into her hands and legs, making sure he wouldn't be able to budge.

"Get off," he seethed.

"No. Not until you hear what I have to say." She expected him to use his Sharingan on her, but he refrained. She didn't know if his anger had made him forget all about that ability or if he perhaps subconsciously didn't really want to escape, but either way she wasn't going to waste this opportunity.

"You cannot blame me for this and you cannot blame Konoha for this. We didn't know about your clan or the mission, but I'm sure that if we did, no one would have stood for it. No one. And don't be mad at Itachi. He didn't just choose Konoha, remember? He defied his orders. He saved you. He chose _you._ " She shook her head, still trying to figure this all out for herself. She didn't exactly know how to feel about all this herself, much less tell Sasuke how to feel.

"Look. I can understand if you want to be mad at Konoha, if you want to be mad at me by association. But don't be mad at Itachi. Please," her words trembled and she cursed her voice for failing her. "Just… just go back to him. This is hurting him more than you know." She recalled Itachi's carefully concealed sadness and pain at his brother's reaction.

Sakura couldn't recall the point when she had started caring about the brothers. Itachi had treated her with nothing but kindness, and her hate and fear of Sasuke had morphed into something less hostile. Maybe it was Itachi's story, or the fact that familiarity breeds fondness, or that she just was a naturally caring and friendly person, forming bonds with people almost as quickly as Naruto. It seemed like just yesterday, she had been willing to kill them. But now she just wanted to help them. The care and sympathy in her heart left no room for the hatred she originally had for them.

Unwilling and unexpected tears filled her eyes as she silently pleaded with Sasuke, her grip on him loosening. Why couldn't he understand that Itachi had given up so much and that he shouldn't have to lose his brother too. Why couldn't he see that his anger was overcoming him and changing him into someone he wasn't.

Her tears hit his face, snapping him out of his fury, his expression changing to one of confusion. Tear after tear hit his forehead, rolling down his face, into his own eyes, her short pink hair brushing his face and her crying slowly escalated into sobs.

"Why?" came his strangled question, his voice barely audible. "Why? Why would you cry for us? We're enemies. We threatened you," panic and anger crept into his voice, "We're _enemies._ Why are you wasting your tears on me? Why? _Why?_ "

"Why?" he whispered, breathing heavily, his own eyes filling with angry, confused tears.

But Sakura just sat there and sobbed, not entirely sure why she was crying for the man sitting beneath her, confusion, sympathy and anger causing turmoil in her.

She felt him gently remove her hands from where they were still pinning his wrists to the ground, and her breath caught as he wrapped his arms around her, holding her tentatively to him as she cried.

She buried her face in his shoulder and gave herself a few moments before taking a few strangled breaths to calm herself. She pulled back and looked at him in confusion.

His eyes were dry from the few tears that had managed to make their way forward before and his face matched her confusion, but his expression flickered with anger, shame, and something she couldn't quite identify.

She wiped her eyes and he let go of her. She gave a strangled chucked. "And to think I came out here to comfort _you._ Look how that turned out."

Sasuke hesitated, then smirked. Sakura gave a smile of her own. It appeared that he had calmed down and was back to his infuriatingly smug self.

He stood up and offered a hand to her. She wasn't expecting a verbal apology for what he said before. What had just happened with the hug was a miracle enough for one day. However, she could sense his silent apology in the gesture and grasped his hand to let him help her up.

Sasuke rolled his shoulder and Sakura saw him wince. She hadn't laced her blows with chakra, not having wanted to truly hurt Sasuke, even in her anger, but she was still a physically strong kunoichi.

Besides, though Sasuke had obviously not been trying to really hurt her either, she had her fair share of bruises from him.

They took their time walking back to the safe house, seeming comfortable with the silence, both parties having a lot to think about considering the events that had happened in the past twenty-four hours.

Sakura was trying to sort out her feelings. She no longer considered the Uchihas an enemy, and the relief at not having to kill Itachi anymore was overwhelming. The thought of having to murder someone who she had spent so long healing, someone who had actually been quite kind to her, had been eating her up ever since she had arrived at the Uchiha's old hideout.

There was also relief at not being the Uchihas' enemy anymore. They were certainly dangerous, and she realized how lucky she was that her brawl with Sasuke had not been an actual fight and that he hadn't truly wanted to hurt her.

Yet, as much as she had tried to convince Sasuke of Konoha's innocence, she couldn't help but feeling some shame because of what her village had ordered. That the third had gone along with the plan shocked her, though she had no doubt Danzo and the hokage's advisors had been the spearhead of the plan.

If Sasuke needed someone to blame, she could certainly point him the right direction. She had always hated Homura and Koharu. The two elders gave her the creeps. And no one would be sad to see Danzo go. His ROOT was becoming an increasing problem and the way he brainwashed members like Sai gave her shivers and made her want to gut the man herself. No one deserved to be ripped of their life and feelings like that. He was barbaric and cruel.

Certainly, now that the truth was out, justice would be brought to the council and the brothers could join forces with Konoha. They now had a common enemy of Akatsuki and Orochimaru.

These were the thoughts that swirled in her head as she made her way back with Sasuke, happiness and confusion warring in her mind.

As the opened the door and Itachi saw his brother, relief and joy leaked through his normally stoic mask. The brothers stood and stared for half a second before Sasuke folded his brother into a hug.

Sakura stared for a few seconds in shock before turning to give them some privacy. The brothers cared about each other. That much was obvious from the time she spent with them. Yet neither were that openly affectionate. _Two hugs in one day,_ she glanced as Sasuke. _Is he really okay?_

She turned back to look at the brothers, who had released each other and seems to be having a silent conversation with their eyes.

Sasuke took a breath, "So what do we do now?"

"First things first," Sakura began, "I have to summon Katsuyu to see if the hokage has responded yet. When she does, I'll go give her a full report. She needs to learn the truth. Once she does, the council can be brought to justice, and I'm sure she'd be happy to give both of you the village's protection."

She didn't add that Tsunade would probably demand help against Akatsuki and information on the organization in return, but she didn't think either brother would have too much of a problem with that stipulation.

Itachi looked a bit wary about the whole thing, clearly not comfortable with his mission being made common knowledge, but Sasuke lit up at the prospect of justice being served to the council.

Sakura performed the hand seals and bit her thumb, her slug summon appearing. "Katsuyu, has Tsunade responded yet?"

"Sakura-san," Katsuyu sounded panicked. "Tsunade-sama says you must not return to the village at all costs. Danzo has begun a coup. ROOT is far stronger than we anticipated. She has sent for help from Suna, but we don't know how long we can hold out. It's not looking good. We were caught completely off guard. Naruto is away training. The hokage orders you to stay away until it is safe. She says to get away from the Uchihas, find Naruto if you can, and-" Katsuyu was cut off, disappearing in a puff of smoke. _Something serious must have happened,_ Sakura winced. _It takes a lot for Katsuyu's summon to be interrupted._

She took a heavy breath. This could not be happening. Konoha was supposed to be strong. ROOT was supposed to be a nuisance at best. How far did their reach go? How did this happen?

She couldn't stay away. That much was certain. She had no idea how to find Naruto, but she needed to do _something._ _And just when everything seemed to be taking a turn for the better._

She slowly stood up and looked at the brothers, who were staring at her apprehensively and sympathetically, worry marring their features. Her next words were laced with fury and determination. "You want your revenge on those truly responsible for your family's deaths?" she directed her question at Sasuke, then looked at them both. "Help me kill Danzo."


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Naruto: Not mine since 1999

A/N: Just a note on the timeline. This story is taking place after the Gaara-retrieval arc, which the main characters do not participate in for this fic, but before Asuma dies. Somewhere in that time-range. Anything that doesn't follow canon is a result of Sasuke's absence. Secondly, I was originally planning to have this up a few days ago, but ff dot net wouldn't let me upload anything. It was really quite frustrating. Anywho, here's the next chapter!

* * *

Uchiha Itachi didn't trust Danzo to leave Sasuke alone, so instead of setting his brother on a course of revenge against him that night, he took the child with him. Now, years later, the Uchiha brothers are famous missing nin, and Uchiha Sasuke would do anything for his beloved brother. Even if that something is forcing an unwilling pink-haired medic nin to heal Itachi. Sasusaku.

* * *

Chapter 10

"Enough. Both of you," Itachi interrupted the somewhat frenzied and excited planning of Danzo's demise between Sakura and Sasuke. "We can't act so rashly. At this point, we'd be going in with limited information on the status of the village and the enemy. Also, we can't rule out the possibility that Madara and Akatsuki will take advantage of this chaos. So _if_ we go in, we're going to need as much information as possible before we act."

The two younger shinobi looked resigned as they took in his words. Going in blind could be a suicide mission, even if they were a jounin and two S-rank criminals. After all, they didn't get those rankings from acting too hastily. Sakura knew that if they wanted to be successful, they'd have to plan ahead and always be several steps ahead of the enemy.

What they needed was intel, both on the situation in the village as well as Akatsuki's plans. For all they knew, Danzo could be in league with the organization. There were simply too many variables to act immediately, as much as she wanted to.

Sakura decided she should just be happy that Itachi hadn't rejected the idea of killing Danzo completely. Despite the fact that the elder Uchiha wanted to keep his mission a secret, she also knew that he cared about Konoha deeply. Now that Danzo was a threat, it made sense that he'd want to eliminate him, something Sakura had no complaints about.

Sasuke nodded, evidently seeing the need to plan their moves as well. He and Itachi fell into what seemed like a familiar rhythm of planning their next steps that clearly came from experience and years of living as missing nin and partaking in Akatsuki missions.

Yet Sakura could sense a tension that wasn't there during her time with them the last few weeks. Their current goal distracted them, but what would their relationship be like once everything settled down?

They had been together their whole lives and Sasuke had never had a reason not to trust and look up to his brother. His anger was now focused on Konoha's elders, but that absolute trust had been broken. Sakura could see that he still cared for his brother deeply and had forgiven him pretty quickly, all things considered, but he now treated him with a caution that was not there before.

Overall, she thought he was taking it pretty well. His whole life he had been told that Konoha had killed their clan, and while that was still technically true, he now knew that Itachi had been their weapon, that he had killed their family with his own two hands. Sasuke's reaction could've been far worse. Having the elders to blame gave him focus, and Sakura just hoped that killing them would be enough. She could see how much Itachi needed his brother, and that reliance seemed to go both ways.

"We first need to establish if the battle in Konoha is ongoing or if it is over," the younger Uchiha began, snapping Sakura out of her thoughts, "and the statuses of both sides."

Sakura grimaced, "We don't have eyes on the inside. My only contact was Tsunade through our summon. For Katsuyu to have been forced to disappear like that, it means something serious happened to her and probably Tsunade by association."

Itachi performed a series of seals and summoned several crows. "These should suffice. I can send some to the village. We'll have to see if we can intercept one of Akatsuki's contacts in Konoha. They should be able to give more information on the situation and perhaps an idea of what Madara is planning to do with this situation."

The kunoichi blanched at the plural use of the word contact. It made it seem like there were so many of them. She and the hokage knew there were spies in the village, but just how far did Akatsuki's reach go?

Shaking off that thought, Sakura turned to the brothers, "So what do we do while we're waiting for your summons to return?"

"We prepare for the worst," was Itachi's reply. "I highly doubt Danzo would have killed too many leaf shinobi, after all, his goal is to strengthen Konoha. However, he most likely took the shinobi most loyal to the hokage out of commission. We need you to tell us who those shinobi would be, potential allies, and all you have on Danzo."

She nodded. As much as she should have been wary about trusting the brothers, she had little choice. They were her only allies at the moment, and powerful ones at that. Besides, they had their own reasons for wanting Danzo gone. She found herself trusting them in spite of her shinobi training and their recent status as her enemies.

"Hatake Kakashi and Nara Shikaku are her regular advisors outside the council and two of her most trusted shinobi. With their strategic abilities, Danzo would have wanted to take them out first, along with Nara Shikamaru."

"Shizune is Tsunade's apprentice and rarely leaves her side. If Jiraiya was in the village, he would have also been targeted. However, I'm sure Danzo would have waited until he left. He's more than likely with Naruto right now. I'm not sure if they even know about the current situation. I wouldn't be surprised if he had waited until a lot of her supporters were away on missions. It might be difficult to find them, but if we could manage it, they'd be a powerful asset."

Sakura kept listing off shinobi she knew to be loyal to the hokage, most of whom were her friends. It was a painful reminder that everyone she cared about were likely targets for Danzo's plan. She had no way of knowing if they were okay, or if they were even alive. But it was also a powerful motivation to take her village back.

"Most of those people are loyal to Tsunade, at least to my knowledge," she summarized, "but to be honest, I'm not sure how far Danzo's reach goes. I never imagined he had enough support for a coup, so who knows who he all has under his thumb. The man's a master manipulator. No one knows much about him. All I know is that he and Tsunade never got along, or he and the third for that matter. His idea of how shinobi should be is far different from theirs."

Itachi nodded. "I probably know more about Danzo than most. I worked under his orders for quite sometime and he showed a disturbing interest in our clan. I've been planning on taking Danzo down eventually for some time now, and believe me when I say he will not be an easy man to defeat." He glanced at Sasuke before proceeding. "What makes Shimura Danzo the most dangerous is the sharingan." Sasuke flinched in shock at the news but let his brother continue on. "He had been collecting sharingan for a long time before he ordered the massacre and has accumulated several eyes that I am aware of."

"He took Uchiha Shisui's mangekyo sharingan eye. This eye has the ability to manipulate another's thoughts and essentially make them do whatever he wants. Eye contact is not necessary for its effects to take hold. It cannot be used often, but is still a powerful weapon. We will have to avoid it at all costs."

Sakura gulped. She couldn't help but feel like she was a bit out of her league with the sharingan, which seemed to have a never ending stream of ridiculously incredible powers. Her taijutsu and healing skills were far above average, and her genjutsu was nothing to be laughed at, but if Danzo could control people's _minds_ , that would have to change their entire strategy. Their skills would hardly matter anymore against him, and the more powerful they were, the more dangerous it would be if they were turned against each other. And if Danzo got control of one of the brothers, it would be beyond disastrous.

Itachi had been right. Barging in without knowing the situation could have been a fatal mistake, especially in light of this ability.

"He can also use a forbidden technique called Izanagi. With this, he can turn himself into an illusion, negating any injury done to his person while still being able to attack. This can be used for 60 seconds before turning the sharingan permanently useless. The battle will all depend on how many Uchiha eyes he has acquired. Shisui believed he kept several of the stolen sharingan implanted on his right arm."

Sasuke practically growled at the revelation, and Itachi did not look pleased either, even if he was better at hiding his emotions than his brother. Sakura could understand why. This man had not only ordered the decimation of their clan, but had also stolen from them, killing who knows how many Uchihas for his own gain.

"We'll have to approach Danzo with extreme caution. It would be preferable to kill him before he even sees it coming. If we could avoid a battle altogether, it would prevent giving him an opportunity to use his more formidable abilities. However, we will need a back up plan in case it comes to an actual battle. That will be based off the intel we receive from my summons when they return."

Itachi continued on, seeming to naturally fall into the role of leader of their new team. "Next, we should discuss each other's abilities and weaknesses. These will be essential to working together and could help if Danzo uses Shisui's jutsu on one of us."

Sakura couldn't say she loved the idea of giving away her strengths and weaknesses to people she considered an enemy just yesterday, but she could see the necessity of it. Plus, they would have to tell her their abilities in return, and she had to admit that she was curious.

She nodded and decided she might as well get it over with. "Primarily, I am a med-nin. My taijutsu is my main fighting ability. I use chakra to enhance my blows. I am skilled at breaking genjutsu and have above-average genjutsu abilities, but nothing compared to what the sharingan can do. I rarely use ninjutsu, but I have earth and water natures," she paused, hesitant about whether to give away her ultimate technique. She wasn't sure if it would relevant, or even ready by the time they would infiltrate the village. However, it could be important, especially if it came to an actual fight against Danzo, so she decided just to go for it.

"I have also been storing chakra for the past few years for my Strength of a Hundred Seal."

Itachi looked mildly impressed, but Sasuke just seemed confused, apparently unaware of what the jutsu was.

She elaborated, "This was originally Tsunade's technique. Basically, I store chakra in a seal on my forehead. When I release the seal, I'll have access to the chakra I've been storing all these years. It should be complete within the next week or two. When it is, the seal will appear on my forehead. So it'll all depend on when we decide to strike if I'll be able to use it or not."

Those were the basics of her skills, not to mention her last resort jutsu, so she decided that if they wanted an elaboration, they'd have to ask.

Itachi went next, explaining his sharingan's abilities. Most of what he said she was already familiar with. Several Konoha nin had been victims of Tsukyomi, including the ANBU she had been unable to heal, and she had heard rumors of his Amaterasu, the eternal black flames. Susanoo had been an unexpected ability, something she hadn't even known had existed, but the rest were typical shinobi skills, just at varying, high levels of mastery.

His chakra was primarily fire nature, but he also had wind and water. The shinobi was outstanding in ninjutsu, taijutsu, and genjutsu, though those weren't his exact words when describing himself.

If anything, the self-analysis was as humble as it could be while still being truthful, and the truth was, Uchiha Itachi was an impressive shinobi. Sakura, of course, already knew this, but to hear all his abilities being laid out at once was simply impressive.

His only real weakness was his lack of stamina due to his illness, but even that was far improved due to Sakura's healings, which the kunoichi made a mental note to continue while they waited for news from Konoha.

Sasuke was as blunt as his brother with his abilities, but had a slight arrogance Itachi did not with his descriptions. Not that he didn't have the skill to back up that confidence.

Sakura had expected him to be reluctant with how much he told her, but it seemed that he had decided to trust the leaf nin. Either that or he prioritized his determination to end Danzo over secrecy.

Over all, his skills were similar to Itachi's. He, too, had unlocked the mangekyo sharingan, giving him more precise control over Amaterasu than his brother, as well as Susanoo, though he rarely used these abilities, relying more on his lightning and fire ninjutsu, taijutsu, weapons (preferring swords), and genjutsu, all of which he excelled at.

Sakura guessed that the reason Sasuke didn't use his mangekyo often was because of the side effects. She highly doubted Itachi wanted his little brother to go blind like he almost did himself, and probably told Sasuke to limit his use of the kekkei genkai.

Surprisingly, she learned that Sasuke also knew how to use chidori, a technique she thought only her sensei knew how to do.

Apparently, in his time in ANBU, Itachi had seen Kakashi use the lightning technique with his sharingan and taught it to Sasuke when he learned that his brother had a lightning affinity. The younger Uchiha had even modified it, making the jutsu course through his whole body and into weapons.

With their combined skills and analytical abilities, Sakura figured taking back Konoha wouldn't be too difficult. However, that was assuming Akatsuki didn't get involved. From what Itachi had told them, it sounded like Madara had a serious beef against her village. Danzo's coup would create the perfect opportunity for attack.

Also, Itachi had said he was reluctant to trust too much of the information he had garnered before they had left. If Akatsuki had been aware of their betrayal, they could have been feeding the Uchihas false information and plans for quite some time.

They'd have to play their cards right in order to save Konoha and eventually stop Madara, which Sakura assumed would be their endgame. Uchiha Madara was not the kind of threat you left unchecked.

Getting Konoha to accept the brothers back would be another challenge, if there was even much of Konoha to go back to. There just seemed to be too many enemies and too many variables, and Sakura couldn't help but to feel a little overwhelmed.

 _Just one thing at a time,_ she decided. _We'll get Konoha back first, then worry about the rest._

She glanced out the window to see the sun setting. It had certainly been a long, long day. Between Akatsuki's betrayal, or rather their reaction to Itachi's betrayal, the truth about the massacre, her fight with Sasuke, and the news about Konoha, Sakura was physically and emotionally exhausted, and she was sure the brothers felt the same way.

They had just finished up planning their next steps. Itachi believed his crows would be back by tomorrow morning, with news on Konoha and the status of various nin, including Akatsuki's contacts. They'd go from there, perhaps intercepting one of the spies and gathering information on Madara's next moves.

They had also agreed to have a spar the next day to get used to fighting with and against one another, something Sakura was looking forward to.

Despite all her exhaustion, Sakura pulled Itachi aside after their planning was done and informed him he was due for another healing session.

She knew she was delaying the inevitable, but she didn't want to be alone at the moment. After all that had happened, she felt as if her world had been turned upside down. So much of what she thought she knew was wrong, and she knew that the moment she was alone with her thoughts, worry for Tsunade and her friends would take over her tired mind, something she wanted to avoid for as long as possible.

As she had Itachi lie down, she could see Sasuke hesitate before walking off to one of the rooms. He had evidently either decided to finally trust her or needed some space to think. Either way, she still thought it was ironic that the first time he willingly decided not to babysit their healing sessions was when her mission was no longer relevant.

Looking back, she realized how flawed her plan had been. Going into this, the kunoichi had no idea how deep the relationship between the brothers was. Even with the news of the massacre, Sasuke had almost fully forgiven his brother within a few hours.

She knew now that even if Sasuke had left her alone with Itachi for some reason and she had the chance to kill him, nothing could have stopped him from hunting her down and destroying her. There was no way she would ever have been able to get away with it alive, and her chances of defeating Sasuke would have been minimal.

She sincerely hoped the younger Uchiha would never learn what her plan had been. It would destroy the tentative trust that had been built between them in the wake of all that had just happened. Letting them think that she had been scared into helping them by their threats would be a preferable option.

Focusing on Itachi, she started with his lungs, where his disease had wreaked the most damage. She had made significant progress in healing him during her time with the Uchihas, but there was still quite a bit of damage. He had been on the brink of death and still had quite a way to go to come back from that.

She had been unable to identify the source of his ailment and while she could heal the symptoms, she had no idea how to keep it from coming back. If she had Konoha's resources, she'd probably have more success, but that would have to wait. For now, she just had to get him well enough to be able to fight. After that, she'd work on curing him.

His eyes were a different story. She was able to heal almost all of the damage there, and she guessed that with a few more healing sessions, he'd be able to see almost as well as before he had unlocked the mangekyo.

That was, of course, assuming he didn't ruin his eyes any further, but with his protectiveness and the combined threat of Akatsuki and Danzo, she doubted they'd stay undamaged for long.

Sakura sighed and settled into the familiar rhythm of healing that she had gotten used to with Itachi. They were both normally silent while she healed him, with Sakura asking the occasional question, making a medical observation, or arguing with Sasuke when he was present. So she was caught off guard when he asked her a question.

"What did you say to him?"

"Hm?" she blinked, confused, "What are you talking about?"

"Sasuke," he elaborated. "What did you say to him to convince him to come back?"

"I-I… I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. He-he accused you of choosing Konoha over him and he said some things and we fought. Then I told him he wasn't blaming the right people. I'm not sure what I said that got through to him or what made him so uncharacteristically affectionate. I mean, two hugs in one day? I was kind of shocked."

Itachi raised a brow, "Two?"

She fought back a blush that tried to creep its way to the surface. "I, well, I guess was just really emotional when we fought and I kind of just started crying. Next thing I knew, he was hugging me."

Itachi looked rather shocked and slightly pleased for some reason. Sakura laughed nervously, "Believe me I was pretty shocked too. Honestly, I don't think he even realized what he was doing."

He nodded, "Sasuke used to be quite the affectionate child. Our time as missing nin and with Akatsuki changed that part of him." He smiled fondly, his expression bordering on a smirk, "It's nice to see that side of him again." His expression sobered, "Though I really must admit, I didn't expect him to forgive me quite so quickly, or at all for that matter."

"Were you ever planning on telling him the truth?"

"In time, I suppose. I had never planned on us staying as missing nin for so long. I had hoped to eliminate Danzo and go back to the village for Sasuke's sake. As you can see, that never happened."

"But weren't you working for Danzo?"

"I was under his command, but my true loyalty was to Konoha and the hokage. However, I agreed with him on the decision to eliminate the clan. The hokage wanted to believe peace could be reached through negotiations. But I could see that there was no changing the minds of the clan. There would be blood shed inevitably. I simply chose the path with the least amount of lives lost."

He made it sound so logical and impersonal, but Sakura could hear a twinge of pain in his voice. He may have been loyal to Konoha, but he still killed his family. There was no way anyone could take that easily.

"Will you return to the village once Danzo is gone?" she asked, deciding to change the subject.

"If the hokage will have us back. As much as I don't wish for the truth behind my mission to be revealed, returning to Konoha would be best for Sasuke. Some days, I regret taking him with me. I had to make him believe that Konoha was the villain. He never had the chance to form any bonds or to grow up as a normal child."

"At least he had you. As for forming bonds," she smiled, thinking of Naruto's ability to befriend everyone he came across, "I don't think that will be too much of a problem."

She just hoped that Tsunade would allow them back into the village. Their story was a hard one to believe, and if she hadn't witnessed Akatsuki attacking them herself, she would have been a lot more skeptical.

It didn't help that everyone in the village believed Itachi to be a horrible villain. Even his name was feared. It would take awhile for people to accept him back. Many had lost friends in the massacre.

She wasn't sure how they'd react to Sasuke, or what Tsunade would do with him. Technically, he wasn't even a missing nin, since he had been an academy student when he and Itachi left, not even having his own hitai-ate.

Sakura vaguely remembered Sasuke from their early years. He had always been popular, though a bit quiet. Ino had basically been in love with him and had just decided to grow out her hair when the massacre happened and he and Itachi disappeared.

After that, Uchiha Sasuke was all but forgotten. No one talked about him besides a few whispered rumors, and Ino's crush was all but forgotten, though she had continued to grow out her hair.

Sasuke may have just been a child when he left with Itachi, but he was now an S-rank missing nin. He had worked with Akatsuki and had committed numerous crimes in their name.

Both brothers were feared criminals with a reputation, and Sakura knew that if they succeeded, the transition back into the village would be difficult. They could offer excuses, explanations, alliances, and information on Akatsuki, but they were still the infamous Uchiha brothers.

Sakura could tell Itachi would have been more comfortable keeping out of the village and helping from the outside, but she knew he would return for Sasuke's sake. She just didn't know how the village or the brothers would take the transition.

Deciding to leave that problem for later, she and Itachi fell back into a comfortable silence as she healed him, trying not to think about what would happen in the days to come.

* * *

A/N: Okay, so just a quick summary of some differences between here and canon in case you didn't pick up on them through the story.

First, since Itachi took Sasuke with him after the massacre, Sasuke was never part of team 7. This changed _a lot._ The third member of team 7 was a Hyuuga boy, Noaki, who was killed on the mission to Wave by Haku. This shakes Naruto and Sakura's world. They both begin training harder, and are stronger in this fic than canon, especially since they didn't waste all that time looking for Sasuke. Sakura, in particular, has more genjutsu abilities. Directly after Naoki's death, she decided to train more in this area.

Sasuke is also stronger, having gotten better training from an earlier age from a sharingan master and having lead the life of a missing nin for most of his life.

Team 7 did not partake in the chuunin exams, since they had only two members at the time. Lee, however, died during the invasion.

Naoki's death also caused a bond between Naruto and Hinata. They were both close to him. The two are currently dating. Sakura is close friends with Tenten and Ino. Neji passed his first chunin exams, so Tenten was on a team with Sakura and Naruto for the next ones. Ino and Sakura never fought over Sasuke and are still close friends.

Any questions? Please feel free to ask. Hopefully I've addressed the major differences, though feel free to point out any concerns!


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